by Gow, Kailin
His fingers rose off the railing and threaded through mine. I felt his warmth and his pain. He was reluctant… to let go, to let me in.
“I didn’t have anything to do with this, and neither did Shayne.”
“The body was very much like the others,” I said softly. “Like the ones Shayne claimed responsibility for.”
He shook his head. “She didn’t.”
“Then who?”
“I think there may be other beautiful beings at St. James; some other kind of succubus or mix.
Closing my eyes at the thought of more battles, I tightened my fingers around his and he responded, tightening his hold of me as well.
I looked at him and smiled wistfully. “Maybe I’ll need you just as much as you need me.”
Chapter 9
I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the notion. It was inconceivable. It wasn’t the fact that beautiful beings roamed the halls of St. James Academy that shocked me, but the fact that they did so without any trace.
Shaking my head, I looked at Moore. “Why can’t I see them then? I have the ability to see demons, to recognize them, to sniff them out. I’ve been at St. James now for months and other than a few encounters at the start, I’ve hardly seen any demons at all.”
“Maybe the demon in them is subdued, quiet… undetectable. It can take a while for the venom of evil to spill through and take over. Chances are they don’t even know what’s brewing inside them yet.”
“Is that what it was like for you?”
“In a way. On the one hand we knew because of our parents. We saw what it was like for them and had a good idea what was coming for us. Despite that, there was a part of us that didn’t really believe it would come to this.”
“When did you first see a sign?”
“A little in our tweens and then more and more in our teens. It appeared in Shayne first. Puberty hit and something darkened in her. At first my parents held to the hope it was all just teenage rebellion. She’d talk back, swear, turn her room upside down and have a fit whenever her Gucci bag didn’t match her shoes or whatever.”
“Yeah. Typical teenage behavior, right?” I smirked sarcastically.
“Well,” he said sheepishly. “You have to admit…”
“Yeah, yeah. Some girls go through the teens in a whirlwind.” I waved him on.
“Hey, speaking of Shayne, she asked about you.”
“Really? What, was she surprised to hear I’d made it back alive?”
Moore gazed at me and flashed an adoring grin. “She got wind of our little trip to England and wasn’t too elated to hear about it. To make matters worse, I let slip how I felt about you.”
“I bet she was thrilled to hear that.”
“Let’s just say I’ve seen her happier.”
“Let me guess. She doesn’t approve of me?”
“Dead on.”
I couldn’t help but silently question his choice of words.
He reached for my hand, cradling it gently in his. “I don’t want you to think I’m the kind of guy who can’t keep his promise, but…”
“But you're going to break a promise,” I snapped as I rip my hand out from his, instantly angry to see how quickly he could let me down. “What? Shayne? Did she get to you? Have you turned to your dark side?”
Chuckling, he looked at me and shook his head. “It’s nothing like that. Stop jumping to the worst conclusion.” With a warm and thoroughly convincing smile, he took my hand and held on tight. “I may have to break the promise about leaving you alone… the silly promise I made before leaving for London. It was such an easy promise to make at the time, but now, looking at you, touching you…”
He brought the back of his hand to my cheek and ran his fingers down to my chin.
“Moore…”
"Times UwI saw the way you looked at Brax. Worse yet, the way he looked at you. I want to believe it was all platonic, but… it’s hard to think there’s nothing going on between you two… that he doesn’t matter to you.”
I squeezed my fingers around his as I felt his slip away. Despite the anguish clearly written all over his beautiful face, I knew I had to tell him how I truly felt. “I want to be completely honest with you, Moore.”
“Do you have to?” With a playfully dejected pout, he turned away and kicked at the ground.
“Yeah,” I said with a half chuckle. “I think it’s best that you know I do care for Brax, quite a bit even.”
“So where do I fit in?”
“I care about you, too. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t. But at the same time, this is all very confusing. Between the demons I already battle with, your background, his background, the murder, everything… I feel a little overwhelmed.” I shook my head. “Okay, I feel a lot overwhelmed. I can’t allow myself to become involved with either one of you. Not now. My focus needs to be on everything that’s happening at St. James and around the city. This isn’t the time for me to get emotional and fall in love with some guy.”
“In love, huh?” His lips spread into that perfect and charismatic smile. Wrapping his big, strong hands around my waist, he pulled me close. “Does that mean…?”
The heat of his hands pierced through my sweater and the desire to get closer to him flared with surprising speed. When he leaned in closer, the scent of his skin and the warmth of his breath added to the thrill of being with him. The never-ending spell he had over me took over.
He kissed my cheek and worked his lips along my jaw line.
“Is this all part of a spell you’ve put me under?”
Between kisses, he glanced at me, his gaze loaded with hunger and confusion.
“From the very start,” I whispered as his lips resumed their assault on my skin. “I’ve felt such a strong, almost unreal attraction to you. My brain turns to mush and all that matters is you and your touch.” I backed away to look at him. “Have you put me under some demonic spell? A spell that controls my emotions and desires? Is this all part of how the demon inside you functions?”
His fingers squeezed at my waist while his eyes held my gaze with surprising affection and candor. “If someone put a spell on you, it’s not me. And if someone truly did put a spell on you, they’ve put me under the very same one. I felt that strong attraction to you the very moment I laid eyes on you. Being close to you intensified that attraction, making it impossible for me to turn away from you.”
He had a way with words and could charm the devil himself, but something in his gaze, in his voice… soft, yet intense, loving and with such sincerity, I couldn’t help but believe every word.
“St. James is lousy with gorgeous, beautiful, sexy and exciting women. I’ve had my share of charming girls who bat their eyelashes, pout their lips and openly want sex with me, but none of them… none… have ever affected me the way you do, the way you always have. None of them have ever touched me the way you can.”
“That’s quite a spell.” I tried to laugh, but the sound was husky and weighted with sexual energy. I could feel the pent up desire burning inside me, and while I wanted – needed to remain in control of my faculties, my body only wanted more of him.
His lips worked their way down my neck, warming me as the sweater on my back never could.
“I lied,” he whispered, his voice just as husky and weighted as mine. “I can’t just let you go… not without a fight.”
“Even if I ask you to stop Shayne from hunting?” I challenged. “Even if I ask you to help me find the culprit… the demon who drained that poor guy’s soul?”
Moore pulled me into his arms, into the secure and safe haven of his embrace. I wanted to melt into him and forget the world.
“The moment I left you and Brax, back at his dorm, I promised myself that I’d forget you, forget the feelings I have for you. I tried, really, and for a whole day I managed to hold back… hold back from calling you, from rushing to your house. It took every ounce of will to keep me from meeting you at the airport and I knew that if I went to school,
I’d succumb the moment I saw you.”
“And I ruined everything by calling you,” I teased.
Shaking his head, he cupped my cheeks and gazed lovingly at me. “The truth? I already had my car keys in my hand when you called.”
“Liar. You said you were busy.”
“Humph… the only thing that kept me busy was trying to forget about you. It was torture being without you and I don’t want to live that again.”
“What about Brax?”
“I’ll have to accept that he’s a part of your life. I’m not saying I’ll like it, or that it’ll be easy. It hurts like hell seeing you guys together, but I want to be close to you again. I want to share moments with you like we did in England – loving you and reveling in every moment with you. Not only will I watch over Shayne and help you find every last beautiful being in San Francisco, but I’ll do my best to be friends…” He choked and cleared his throat. “Okay, let’s just say I’ll do my best to be civil to Brax.”
A rich and warm rumble of laughter shook me and I knew my smile told him just how pleased I was to hear him say that. I reached up to kiss him. Neither chaste nor heated, the kiss was simply filled with the affection and appreciation I felt for him.
To my surprise, he responded in kind, offering his pure affection without the usual heat of passion. When I released him from my kiss, his love for me was clear in his tender gaze. Without a word I folded my hand into his and led him further down the pier.
Gulls squeaked and squawked their way across the sky, fishing under the sun’s final rays. Evening joggers passed us by while the occasional fisherman settled into place and prepared for a catch.
For a long stretch, only the gulls and rolling waves broke the silence that engulfed us. I was lost in my own thoughts and I knew Moore struggled with his own.
When we reached the end of the pier, I finally spoke. “Do you remember the first time you drained a soul?”
His eyes widened. Clearly he’d not anticipated the topic to come up. “They say you never forget your first, and that is unfortunately true.”
“What was it like?”
“Horrible, that’s really the only way to put it. I mean, I remember little about the act itself… as if some demonic instinct just kicked in and took over. I don’t even remember trying to fight it. It completely consumed me.”
“Did you feel the urge beforehand?”
He gazed at the sky and pondered a long moment. “I remember feeling different, questioning certain odd urges I suddenly had.”
“Like what?”
He snorted. “Stupid stuff, like pushing someone off his bike, or ripping flowers from a garden; like throwing rocks through the stained glass depiction of Jesus at church. I was conscious of all these new and strange thoughts, yet still didn’t make a connection with my parents’ condition.”
“And how did the urge to drain a soul materialize?”
Pursing his lips, he shrugged. “It was just there. I was walking a new kid to the auditorium… showing him around. Once there, we were alone. It was dark and quiet, and he started to make these eerie sounds… calling out into the dark then chanting strange words, just for the hell of it. It all echoed in the auditorium and he thought it was really funny. It gave me the chills and triggered something inside me; a hunger or need; something that hadn’t been there before. I turned to him and suddenly saw something I wanted in him. Don’t ask me what, I really don’t know, just something. And the need to have that something intensified until I became obsessed with having it.”
“His soul?”
He glanced at me and quickly looked away. “Probably.”
“What d’you do?”
“From that point, I don’t really know. All I remember is leaving the auditorium. I was cool and calm one minute, strutting through the halls without a care in the world. Then the repulsion and nausea took over. I knew something awful had just happened, but I think I deliberately blocked it out.
“Someone found him twenty minutes later. The cops were called and before long everyone in school was talking about it.” His eyes darkened and it was easy to see he’d gone to a dark and sad place.
“A part of me shrugged it off. It was no big deal… some new kid found dead in the auditorium… what do I care? But another part of me knew… knew I was a part of it. And the worst…”
He fell silent.
Eager to find out more, I wanted to press him, but the torment in his eyes told me just how painful it was to relive.
“The worst was the little part in me… the devil in me… that was actually proud.” He turned to me. “You can’t imagine what it is to live with so many conflicting emotions, to loathe yourself with such passion. It took me weeks just to accept what had happened; what I’d done.”
Taking a deep breath, he composed himself and forced a smile. “So I would imagine the beautiful beings at St. James are going through the very same hell; sensing a difference, but unable to identify the source or reason; having evil thoughts without any understanding of them.”
“They don’t know what’s coming and have no way to stop it,” I added.
“They’re completely unaware of what’s brewing inside them and there’s no way we can point them out. For now they're walking around just like ordinary people.”
“Jekyll and Hyde, multiplied.”
“Pretty much.”
We fell silent as a group of older women jogged by, touched the end rail of the pier and turned back. Once gone, I leaned into Moore, feeling closer to him than ever before. His embrace was gentle and pensive.
“All the more reason to have Brax back in town.”
Moore said nothing, but his arms tensed a fraction of a second before relaxing again.
Pulling back to look at him, guilt filled my belly for the added pain I’d brought him. “I went to England to find him and bring him back so he could settle things with his estate, but I need him here, in San Francisco, for another reason.”
He cocked his brow, but seemed reluctant to hear what I had to say.
“I need his help to get Asher out of jail. Since his uncle’s death he’s inherited a lot of money, money that translates to power and that power will help free Asher.”
An amused grin came to Moore’s lips as he cocked his brow. “You know, I don’t have too shabby a bank account either. I can help you get Asher out.”
“I know you could help with the financial aspect, but you’ve already done so much… bringing me to England and all…. But Brax is the only family Dr. Kingsley had here. He may be the only one who can convince the judge to release Asher, maybe even drop the charges.”
After a long and slightly annoyed intake of breath, Moore let the air seep out of his flaring nostrils. “Okay, fine. Brax wins again.”
I chuckled, hoping to lighten the mood.
“You know I want to be there to help you, right?”
“I know, and I appreciate it… really.” I kissed him, platonic, almost brotherly at first. I was truly grateful for everything he’d done, but the kiss quickly took on a life of its own. It heated up with lightning speed, enveloped me and erased everything else from my mind. As his hands spread over my back and worked their way down, I leaned into him, ready to get closer than we’d ever been.
The sensations that’d left me reeling intensified when his hand slipped under my sweater and traveled up my back. The heat of his skin against mine, the softness of his touch and the possessive pull of his lips all left me ready to beg for more. Just as I prepared to murmur that plea into his ears, he pulled back.
“Believe me,” he whispered.
Bleary eyed, I looked at him, my lips already pursed for another kiss.
“I want this more than you know,” he went on, “but, somewhere deep inside me… somewhere in there, with all the demonic tendencies and urges, I have the utmost respect for you. It’s not really my nature to be chaste and pure, but with you… I don’t want you to feel pressured or manipulated. I want to wait u
ntil you're fully ready.”
“I am, Moore,” I growled as my body ached for his embrace.
A sardonic grin spread across his face, rendering him impossibly alluring, but it was accompanied by a mature shake of his head. “With everything that’s going on, I don’t think you are… and I don’t want you to regret our moment together. I don’t want you to resent me for taking advantage of you.”
The molten heat that’d consumed me cooled somewhat, though I knew it wouldn’t take much to heat it up again. I knew he was right. My emotions were all over the place. “I really appreciate your…” I cleared my throat. “Control. I do want you, I want you to know that, but you're right; too much is going on now. I need your help settling at least one of those things.”
He looked away. Whatever heat, passion or romance that’d remained completely dissipated. “Right, Brax again. Will we ever stop talking about good old golden boy.”
“Actually, it was Asher I wanted to talk about.”
Chapter 10
Flanked by Brax and Moore, I headed to the imposing doors of the court house.
“How much did you say his bail would be set at?” Moore asked.
“Rumor has it at six point five million,” I said. “If they even allow bail at all.”
He let out a low whistle.
“I know. That’s why we have to convince him to lower it.”
Once inside our steps echoed up to the high ceiling, reverberating with the importance of every step.
The guys at my side had more than enough money to post bail for Asher, but would the judge refuse him bail at all. Crossing my fingers as we arrived at the designated courtroom, I hoped Brax’s influence would do the trick.
With quiet reverence we took a seat behind Asher and his court appointed lawyer.
