by Jessi Gage
He nodded, catching her as she began to drift downward. She relaxed into her pure essence form. Her tendrils closed around his arm uncertainly.
“It is all true,” he said with his voice. “But I must warn you, once you win back your body from Mercy, I cannot guarantee you will remember your time here. It is likely this encounter will fade like a dream and you will retain no memory of this forsaken place.” He spoke the rest into her thoughts, encouraging her to conserve her energy. You may have no memory of me save for our brief interactions inside your house.
Why?
Because God desires your faith.
That’s not fair. What if I never believe what Emmett believes? What about all those people who don’t believe? If there’s really a hell, who goes there? Could I go there? Her essence shivered with apprehension, which quickly spiked to indignation. I’m not bad. Maybe I’m a little bit carnal, but not bad. I’m not evil. I don’t deserve to go to hell.
He ached for her. He remembered what it was like to have such limited understanding of God’s love. It is God’s desire that every mortal finds heaven’s peace. But His greatest gift to mankind is free choice. Some choose Him. Some do not. But His arms are open to all.
What will I choose?
I do not know the future. I pray you choose God. I think if you remain by Emmett’s side, you will come to cherish his beliefs.
What if I don’t? Her grip on him loosened.
He regretted telling her everything. He needed her determined right now, not frightened of the future.
Acting on impulse, he embraced her essence as they floated below the ceiling. She molded to his form like a doll made of dandelion fluff. She was next to nothing in his arms, her vibrant life without a home. What had been done to her was an egregious sin. He vowed to make Draonius pay.
Unfortunately, no amount of determination on his part could secure Jade’s fate. Once he placed her back in her body, she would have a battle on her hands. It was not for him to know the outcome, only to prepare her for the fight.
I am not omniscient, dear Jade. But God would not have sent me to you unless He had plans for you. He made you. He fashioned you with the love of a perfect father. He desires a relationship with you. He will not give up on you easily. Now, are you ready to live?
A pause. I’m afraid.
I will be with you until you are back in your body. And then you will know what to do. Come, let us put Mercy and Draonius in their place.
Her essence furled tight, determined. Okay. Let’s do it.
He brought her through the ceiling, praying with all his might.
* * * *
Wind ripped at Jade’s essence. The roar of it was discordant and deafening despite her lack of ears. The physical plane was pure unadulterated chaos.
She should have been terrified, but thanks to Joshua cocooning her, shielding her from the worst of the gale, she didn’t fall to pieces, literally or emotionally.
After what felt like several tense minutes, Joshua’s thought to her, I found your body. Here, do you feel that?
He pressed her tendrils into something warm and soft, something humming with a vibration that instantly calmed her. It felt like an island of salvation in a raging storm. It was her physical self. She let the warmth draw her in until the storm abated.
A sense of rightness surrounded her. She was home.
Releasing Joshua’s hand, she thought, Thank you so much.
His response was, Fight, Jade. Take back your body. Then he was gone.
The second he left, she sensed an unpleasant crowding. Something pushed at her, resisting her effort to snuggle in where she belonged.
Mercy.
The sound of Emmett’s voice infused her with strength. He was saying, “Yeah, I think it did. There must be a draft or something.”
She imagined her tendrils turning to tent pegs, anchoring her in place. The pushing kept up, but she withstood it. Then she focused on having sight.
She caught a fleeting glimpse of Nick across the kitchen table. He was rubbing his arms as if he were cold. Dirty dishes strewn over the table suggested they’d just finished dinner. Emmett sat beside her, holding her hand.
She told her fingers to squeeze his hand and they obeyed, but loosely, as if someone else fought the command. Suddenly, everything went dark. Wind pulled at her, and she knew Mercy was trying to push her out.
Bitch.
She turned her tent pegs into railroad spikes, sending them deep. Mercy pushed harder. The spikes trembled. Weariness pressed at her, urging her to release all her tension to the threatening wind.
Joshua had warned her Mercy would be strong and determined, but she had refused to believe the former witch might be stronger than she was. Now she believed.
She had a single charge by Joshua, one thing she must accomplish at any cost. Tell Nick, ‘I am possessed by a spirit named Mercy Abigail Birmingham. Pray for me.’ If you do that, he will take care of the rest.
It had seemed so simple. But her strength was running out after less than a minute of fighting the witch bitch. She’d barely gotten a glimpse out of her eyes. She couldn’t even give Emmett’s hand a proper squeeze. How was she going to wrest control of her mouth?
Doubts assailed her. What if she couldn’t do this? What if, after everything Joshua had told her, she lost to Mercy and wound up in hell?
She heard herself say, “I have a headache. I think I’ll go upstairs and lie down.” Damn it! Mercy had taken advantage of her moment of weakness.
Emmett said, “Okay, babe. Feel better.”
The sound of a kiss made her shake with rage. How dare that woman kiss her man! Hurt that bitch. Feel pain, damn it! She couldn’t afford to leave the room. She needed to talk to Nick.
A familiar, genteel voice in her head chuckled as she felt her body climb the stairs to Emmett’s room. You can’t hurt me. Nor can you stop me. I am stronger and smarter than you, Jade, and I shall not give this body up without a fight.
Oh, yeah, you ancient witch whore? Well, guess what. Neither will I.
Chapter 21
Emmett handed Nick a freshly washed casserole dish.
Nick accepted it and swiped it dry with the kitchen towel. “You sure, man?” His forehead scrunched beneath the bill of his hat. “I really don’t mind trying again tonight.”
Emmett had mixed feelings about sending Nick away, but like Jade had said over dinner, if they didn’t find anything paranormal at her house last night, maybe it meant whatever had attacked them had moved on. It would probably be nothing but a waste of time to try again. And Nick didn’t need to lose any more sleep over this while he had finals to study for.
“Don’t worry about it, man. You’ve got classes and exams. If you head back now, you can get a decent night’s sleep and a last minute study crunch. If Jade has any more trouble at home, we can figure it out when you’re done with finals.”
Nick set the dry dish on the counter and slung the towel over the oven handle. “I’ll be done Friday after next and then I’ll have practically the whole month of September off. Chiboza’s got some work for me, but it’s stuff I can do from home. I was planning on staying with my parents for my month off—to save on rent and be closer to Ali. So yeah, that would be a good time to get down and dirty and try to figure this thing out. But what’ll you do in the meantime? I’m not sure it’s a good idea for her to stay in her house alone.”
“She can stay with me.”
Nick scoffed. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea either. Maybe Jade can bunk with your sister, or Lisa could stay here and, like, chaperone you two crazy kids.”
He wanted to argue and insist he could keep his hands to himself, but the truth was Jade pushed him to his limits. Seeing her in just a flimsy tank top and a thong this evening had made every cell in his body surge with sexual hunger. He wanted her in the worst way, and it didn’t help that he was falling hard for her. What he felt for her went way beyond the physical, and that was saying something where
Jade was concerned, because physically, she was a smoking hot ten.
Maybe this was love.
He’d said the words to Chelsea, but only after she’d said them to him first. Uttering the phrase had always come with a twinge of guilt, like he knew he didn’t really mean it but couldn’t justify not saying it if he was going to stay with her. The relationship had been comfortable, like his leather recliner.
Jade was like the body-hugging seat of a Lamborghini. Loving her was going to take him places, and take him there fast.
When he thought about sex with her, it was about more than just his own release. He wanted to claim her with his body. He wanted to give his woman pleasure, bind her to him with it. It wasn’t about an orgasm. It was about protecting her with every ounce of his strength, about making her his and giving himself to her in the most intimate and visceral way.
He’d never thought of sex that way before. It was humbling. It was frightening.
He’d always thought of “no sex before marriage” as a rule. Now he saw “sex within marriage” as a privilege.
And just like that, he knew. Jade was The One.
As quickly as the realization struck him, he shoved it away.
She was in a vulnerable position right now, and it was probably making him sentimental. He wasn’t cut out for marriage. As much as he cared for Jade, he couldn’t see them carving out a lifetime of happiness together when he was a small-town steady guy and she was a big-city party girl. Heck, he’d already taken her to the one cool place within a twenty-mile radius. A couple more visits to Billy Bob’s and she’d be missing her clubs back in Boston. He didn’t have a prayer of keeping her happy for long.
She couldn’t be The One. She just made him wish she was.
Regret punched him in the gut, because if she wasn’t meant to be his, he had no business letting his heart get involved. It wasn’t love he felt for her. Just infatuation. He could control infatuation. It would pass. Jade would return to Boston. Life would return to normal.
In the meantime, he wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks where his vow was concerned.
“You’re right. You’re totally right,” he told Nick. It was a terrible idea for Jade to stay in his house without someone else around to keep him accountable. “I’ll call Lisa as soon as you’re gone.”
“Right now, Em. No sense putting it off.”
“Seriously, man?” He didn’t try to keep the offense out of his voice. “Don’t you trust me?”
“It doesn’t cost you anything to call her while I’m here,” Nick said, popping a breath mint and rattling the little plastic container at him. “It could cost more than I know you’d be okay with if you put it off and then never get around to it. Besides, what if Lisa can’t help out tonight? I can stay most of the night if you need me to.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He shook out a mint and tossed the container back to Nick. While his friend caught it, he picked up the kitchen phone. He dialed and ran a hand through his hair, trying not to acknowledge how disappointed he was he wouldn’t get to sleep with Jade in his arms tonight.
He didn’t want sex with her, he told himself. He just wanted to know what it was like to have a woman in his bed, under his roof, for one night.
Yeah, right.
If he spent the night alone with Jade, his virginity vow would be gone faster than scarred ice under fresh Zamboni tracks. He knew it, and Nick knew it, and he hadn’t realized what a strong temptation it had been until his buddy insisted he call Lisa.
“I guess we’ll see if Jade can move in with Lisa and Rob,” he told Nick while waiting for an answer. “Just until we get her house squared away.” When his sister came on the line, he said, “Oh, hey, Lisa. I have a favor to ask you.”
“Hey, Lis,” Nick said loudly, shortening her name in part because he knew it annoyed her.
“Uh, oh,” she said. “What’s the do-right duo up to this time?”
“Doing right, as usual,” he said with a smile. After his parents’ divorce, their mother had stopped making them go to church, telling them it was up to them from then on. Fourteen at the time, he’d chosen to keep going with his mom. Lisa had been eleven. She’d chosen to spend Sundays watching football with their dad. She hadn’t been to church since, except to attend weddings and funerals, and she often poked fun at him for his “delicate Christian sensibilities.” He didn’t hold Lisa’s choices against her, but he prayed every day she would give God another chance.
He explained the situation with Jade and her possibly haunted house while Nick nodded his approval. Lisa agreed to spend the night at his place. Beyond that, she wanted to wait and see if she “liked”—translation, trusted—Jade before deciding whether to open up her house to the near stranger. Ever the cautious girl, his sister. It was one of the characteristics that made her a good cop.
“Thanks, Lisa. See you around, what, like ten?”
“Maybe closer to ten thirty,” she said. “I don’t want to leave before Rob gets home. But I’ll be there. No hanky-panky in the meantime.” He could just see her wagging her finger at the phone. She might not want anything to do with Christianity for herself, and like everyone else, she joked about his prolonged state of virginity, but she’d never begrudged him his beliefs. Also, she was a saint for being willing to stay the night away from Rob, her husband of two years.
“You’re a life saver,” he said.
“You mean a virginity saver.”
They signed off, and Nick nodded with satisfaction. “I can trust you to keep it legit for a few hours?”
He rolled his eyes. “I think I can handle an evening of abstinence. Get lost, you overgrown cock block.”
His buddy chuckled as he headed to the man-cave for his stuff. He came up a few minutes later and said, “I’m out of here. Tell Jade I said bye. Hope she feels better.”
“Yeah, me too. Good luck on your exam tomorrow.” He stood on the stoop to see his buddy off.
“Thanks for dinner,” Nick said as he angled himself into his tiny car.
“Thanks for the ghost hunting,” Emmett said. He watched Nick back down the driveway, and then he shut and locked the door. He ought to look for something, anything, to occupy himself other than Jade, but his feet took him straight up the stairs to find his sleeping beauty.
He was concerned for her, he told himself. That must have been some headache she’d had after dinner, because the pain had drawn her face taut and put an intensity in her eyes he’d never seen before. He really ought to check on her, make sure she’d taken some aspirin and was resting well.
He wasn’t dwelling on how hot she looked in that tank top and thong. No siree. Not at all.
In fact, he’d better check to see if she was still wearing that skimpy getup. If so, he’d help her cover up.
* * * *
Mercy purred at the sounds of the men exchanging farewells and the front door closing. She’d done it. She’d gotten rid of the friend.
Her preparations weren’t in vain. She’d staged the bedroom for Draonius’s plan. A pentagram of candles surrounded the bed. The large knife she’d snitched from the butcher block in the kitchen lay sharp and ready under her pillow. She wore nothing but the scraps of undergarments Emmett had seen her in earlier. Most importantly, the window was wide open.
The moment Emmett broke his vow, the blessing around his house would fall. Draonius would swoop in and have but a short jaunt through the physical plane from his blackbird body to his new home.
She couldn’t wait. Emmett’s body was a masterpiece. A fitting home for her marvelous lover, and a feast for the senses she couldn’t wait to sample. Forever.
All that stood between her and Draonius’s success was a quick seduction. Now that she and Emmett were alone, there was nothing to stop her from finishing this.
Well, not quite alone, she amended. There was Jade.
How the woman had managed to find her way back into her body, she couldn’t imagine. Draonius had assured her Jade’s essence
would remain in the abyss, where she couldn’t interfere with Mercy’s seduction. It wasn’t often her demon lover was wrong.
Fortunately, it was taking all of the mortal woman’s strength to merely hold on. She would not be much trouble. For a handful of seconds after dinner, the sudden invasion had so displeased her she had attempted to thrust Jade from her body, but she’d caught herself before she’d succeeded. Thank the stars. If she’d shoved Jade out, her essence would be lost. Draonius would have been furious. Their plan required that Jade remain alive. Her dreams were an unrivaled source of power for them.
Thus, for the time being, she would make do with Jade’s presence. Perhaps it would even add to her pleasure, seducing Emmett while Jade was forced to watch.
Do you hear that, mortal? she taunted at the sound of Emmett’s stocking feet on the stairs. He’s coming. What was yours shall soon be mine.
Jade made no response, no doubt too weak to do so. That was the last thought she wasted on the mortal.
Turning her gaze to the open window, she spotted the glinting beads of Draonius’s eyes where he nestled in a great purple oak, waiting. “Hang on, darling,” she whispered. “We’ll be together soon.”
He bobbed his head. His confidence made her swell with pride.
When Emmett reached the top of the stairs, she met his curious eyes and smiled. To use Jade’s modern vernacular, it was show time.
* * * *
Emmett treaded softly up the stairs, not wanting to wake Jade if she was asleep. He shouldn’t have bothered. It seemed she’d been expecting him.
She was sitting on top of the covers in her tank top and thong, hugging her knees. Her hazel eyes were liquid, like the tide pools out at the coast, shimmering with the irresistible promise of hidden secrets. She had a sweet smile on her face, but his heart constricted at how pale she looked. Then again, that might just be an effect of the candlelight.
He hadn’t even known he had candles. Maybe Lisa had given them to him as a housewarming gift or something and Jade had found them in the pile of forgotten stuff in his closet. She had five of them lit around the bed, one on each of the bedside tables, one in the center of the chest at the foot of the bed and, strangely, two on the floor on the sides of the bed.
