Heaven and Hell (Beautiful Beings, #2)

by Gow, Kailin

  Asher pressed his lips into a disapproving line. “Is that the real reason you don’t want the police involved?”

  “I like taking care of business my way.”

  “Playing vigilante? Taking the law into your own hands?”

  “Cops and robbers have nothing to do with the world of angels and demons.”

  Nodding his understanding, he squeezed my hand.

  “Lux, honey.” Mom rushed in, her brow creased with worry and her eyes already brimming with tears.

  “Mom.” I reached out for her hand as she came around to the other side of the bed. “Don’t cry. I’m fine.”

  “No, sweetie. Fine is when I come home from work to find you safe and sound and you tell us about your day at school as we all sit down for dinner. Coming here to find you bruised and battered…”

  “And with a concussion,” Dad added as he came up behind her.

  “It’s a mild concussion.” Setting my fingers a fraction of an inch apart, I held up my hand to show just how minor a concussion it was.

  “It’s serious enough to keep you here overnight,” Mom argued.

  “Speaking of which…” Dad leaned over to kiss my brow. “There’s some paperwork that needs my John Hancock.”

  “Sorry for all the hassle this is causing you. I hate to see you guys miss out on work because of a stupid fight.”

  “Don’t worry about that, pumpkin head.” Dad ruffled my hair, but stopped at the first sign of a pain filled grimace. “I was in the midst of a very dull meeting when Asher called.” He looked up at him with a grateful nod.

  Still holding my hand, Asher said, “I’m just happy I was able to reach you both. I’m sorry it took so long, but I had a bit of trouble finding the right number to call.”

  With another kiss to my brow, Dad took a hold of Mom’s elbow and guided her to the door. “We’ll get all the insurance stuff out of the way and be right back.”

  “We’re going to stop at the cafeteria to pick up a bite. You want anything special?” Mom asked.

  “Yeah, the food up here risks being unpalatable,” Dad added.

  “Thanks, but I’m good.”

  My parents walked out the door only slightly less worried and distraught as when they’d walked in.

  “Cool parents,” Asher said. “Hell, I just spent a month in prison and my parents couldn’t be bothered. You're in here all of two hours and your parents are at your side.”

  “Yeah, they are pretty cool.” I squeezed his hand, hoping to alleviate the guilt I felt for his lame parents. “I can see how they appreciate you.”

  He was silent and pensive for a long moment. “Good to see someone who doesn’t want to wring my neck because of the Kingsley thing.”

  “My parents never believed you had anything to do with that.”

  He sighed, his eyes gentle as he looked at me. “Do they know about you? About me?”

  I nodded. “They’ve known about me since the beginning, but I haven’t had a chance to tell them about you yet. I wanted to wait until I was sure.”

  “I think it’s safe to tell them now.” He grinned with pride.

  I laughed. “Yeah, you're right. And I wish I could tell your parents, too. They’d be so proud.”

  He gave me a cynical eye. “You don’t know my parents.”

  “I’m sorry, Asher. I didn’t mean to…”

  “To what? Mention how lousy and self-absorbed my parents are? I’ve been living with this for close to eighteen years now. Do you really think I expected them to show up and bail me out?”

  “Maybe they weren’t notified. Maybe they were unreachable.”

  He inhaled deeply, bringing my hand to his lips. “Don’t make excuses for them. They got notification a plenty, but business is business and a dollar is a dollar. Dad tied up some loose ends and completed a business deal. They should be back in town next week… not that it’ll help me any.”

  Leaning in to kiss my cheek, he whispered. “You care more about me than they do. I wonder who benefits more from this guardian deal we have going; you or me?” He waved his finger back and forth between us.

  “I’m alive and happy, banged up, but happy. I’d say I’m pretty lucky to have you on my side, Asher.”

  My parents returned; Mom with a small plate with a piece of vanilla cake and Dad with a manila envelope.

  “I’ll leave you to your parents,” Asher said. He kissed my hand. “Besides, I’ve missed enough school as it is. It’s time I got back to my classes.”

  “I certainly do hope everything turns out well for you, Asher,” Dad offered, still beaming with gratitude.

  With a solemn salute and a quick wink back at me, Asher left the room.

  “That’s quite a young man.”

  “I’m glad you think so, Dad.”

  “I brought you a piece of cake, honey.” Mom handed me the plate.

  Chuckling, I accepted her maternal offerings. “Thanks, Mom.”

  “We can’t stay long,” Dad said, holding up his envelope. “We managed to get your x-rays, nice break by the way, but they said the doctor should be back in his office in a few minutes.”

  “All of this because of a little headache.”

  “You got lucky. At least you wrist didn’t require surgery.”

  Yeah, I thought, but setting it back into place had hurt more than all of Shayne’s poundings.

  Dad glanced at his watch just as Brax walked in.

  “Looks like we’re on tag duty.” Dad snorted his amusement as he clapped Brax’s hand on the way to the door.

  “We’ll be back to check on you a little later, honey,” Mom called back as she followed my dad.

  “Take your time.” Smiling, Brax waved them goodbye and came to my side, his smile quickly fading. “I could kick myself for what she did to you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Shayne. I’m the one who introduced you to her. The lunatic almost killed you. I ran into Asher on the way in and he told me what happened. Damn it. If I had any doubts about getting him out of jail, they’re gone now. The guy really isn’t as bad as everyone thinks he is.”

  “You mean as bad as you thought he was,” I corrected with a teasing grin.

  “All right, I admit it. I wasn’t too keen on the guy.”

  “That’s okay. I’m just glad you finally came around.”

  With heartfelt affection, he took my hand in his and ran his fingers over my skin. “If I’d lost you, lost you to her… she’s such a spiteful and shallow person. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to…”

  “Brax, stop beating yourself up. I would have run into Shayne one day, no matter what you did.”

  He shook his head. “She saw us together. She knew how much I liked you. Shayne is unbelievably jealous. She just can’t stand the fact that you outshined her. You stole her thunder.”

  “Brax, St. James is full of beautiful girls…”

  “You're different. The others are beautiful, yes, but they all fit the same mold. You're from a whole other mold altogether, one that Shayne didn’t appreciate. And seeing my appreciation of you only made matters worse.”

  “You're exaggerating.”

  He grinned, wicked and wild, licked his lips and arched his brow. “Damn, Lux, you're the hottest thing to hit St. James since its inception, and Shayne fell out of the limelight and into your shadow.”

  Tickled by his flattery, I laughed, which quickly brought on a headache.

  “Keep it calm,” Brax said softly, suddenly aware of the pain I was in. “You know, I think all this jealousy and this rivalry between you and Shayne, it brought out the darkness in her, quicker, fiercer, more urgent, and it breaks my heart to see you like this, to see what she did to you, all in order to maintain her view of the order of things.”

  I didn’t have the heart to mention Moore’s role in this, how outraged she’d been to learn of Moore’s love for me. Wincing, I brought my fingers to my temple and closed my eyes.

  “Hone
y, keep your eyes closed and relax. I’m going to go get the doctor and be right back.”

  I was vaguely aware of him closing the blinds, rendering the room dim and peaceful. The room was quiet and the pain of my head diminished.

  I opened my eyes, happy to see the glaring lights overhead had also been turned off.

  “It’s about time you open your eyes.”

  I turned to see Moore sitting in the corner. Shaking my head I tried to make sense of his presence. “Moore. When did you get here? How long have you been…?”

  In an instant he was at my side. “Not long enough. I wish I could have been here earlier, but I’ve had a hard day and was held up. I came as soon as I could.” His fingers traced over the bandage that held my ribs in place. “I’ll kill her. Sister or not, I’ll kill her for doing this to you.”

  “The demon is winning. She had little control over her actions.”

  “I’m fighting it, and she’s just as strong as I am. She could fight it if she chose to.” He gripped my fingers, his hold strong and pained. “She knows how I feel about you. This isn’t only an attack on you. It’s an attack on me.”

  As he came closer, I looked into his eyes, seeing the depth of pain and determination in the darkened orbs. Despite his anger, his kiss was gentle and sweet, conscious of the pain my body already struggled with.

  “You're off limits and she knows it. Damn it. I’m so sorry I let this happen. I promised to keep an eye on her. I should have known she’d go after you.”

  “Moore,” I whispered, eager to assuage his guilt. “She was probably out of the house before you even woke.”

  He shook his head and brought his hand to my swollen cheek. “There’s no excuse,” he muttered in a hoarse voice. Tears spilled from his eyes as he scanned my face, taking in every scratch and bruise. “Therev>

  My fingers gently tugged at his hand, urging him closer, urging his kiss. Soft and sweet, his kiss was a careful brush of his lips against mine. Snaking my good hand around his neck I pulled him closer, kissing him with all the passion my lips could tolerate.

  Staying close, he touched his nose to mine, his eyes heavy with sorrow as he held my gaze.

  I sought the words that could erase the guilt and sorrow, that would make him see I was okay, despite appearances. “Moore.”

  He ran his fingers through the tangled tresses that flowed over my pillow. “Just know how much I love you.”

  Startled and filled with a sudden wave of panic, I watched, wide eyed as he backed away and walked out.

  “Moore?” My breath caught in my throat, strangling me and intensifying every painful ache in my body. What had just happened? His words were filled with such finality.

  I struggled to sit up, but a wave of nauseating dizziness quickly reminded me of the impossibility of getting up so fast.

  “Braxton, where are you?” I muttered into the quiet room. Reaching for the buzzer, I pressed repeatedly on the button that would bring a nurse’s assistance. Instead the room remained still and quiet.

  Where was everyone? Mom and Dad? Braxton? Damn it, I couldn’t even get a nurse to respond.

  Chapter 13

  I forced through the dizzy spell and sat up, determined to find out what was going on. I could hear voices in the corridor, some frantic, some solemn.

  The door opened.

  “Mom, finally. I’ve been buzzing for a nurse…”

  “Are you alright?” In a second, Mom had her hand to my brow, gently but insistently pushing me back to the bed. “We came back as soon as we could.”

  “There’s a bit of a commotion out there,” Dad said.

  “Yeah, I could hear dozens of voices. What’s going on?”

  “Honey,” Mom said in that tone that always preceded bad news. “They found a drained body.”

  Despite her soothing hand to my brow, I bolted to a seated position. “What? Are you serious? Where? When?”

  “Here in the hospital, up in the psych ward, twenty minutes ago.” Dad came to stand at the foot of the bed.

  My heart raced as I tried to find some time reference. Twenty minutes. How long had Brax been gone? He’d left to find a doctor… Had I fallen asleep? Possibly… I hadn’t even heard Moore’s arrival.

  “Damn it,” I muttered.

  Moore mentioned being held up before coming to see me. What could have kept him from being at my side? I threw the sheets off me and twisted to get off the bed.

  “Honey, this is no time to play warrior princess.” Dad came to my side and put a definitive hand to my shoulder.

  “Dad, Brax and Moore… they were both here, they were both…” I choked, pained by the possibility.

  “There’s nothing you can do now, Lux. You have to regain your strength before you can go out and save the world.”

  Obedient, but still fired up, I lay back. “Have you seen Brax?”

  “I’m right here,” he said as he came into the room, his face pale. “Sorry for the delay. I got held up.”

  “Yeah, that seems to be going around,” I muttered to myself.

  “What’s that,” he asked.

  Shaking my comment off, I looked pointedly at his soiled hands. Blackened as though he’d handled charcoal, his hands left little doubt as to what had held him up. Stepping closer, his eyes darkened, the iris of his eyes dilated to the point of leaving only a thin rim of hazel.

  “Mom, Dad, I’d really like to have a minute with Brax, if you don’t mind.”

  “Sure, honey,” Mom said with a gentle pat to my head.”

  The silence was heavy and uncomfortable as I watched them leave.

  “You seem upset,” Brax said as he came to my side.”

  “You left to get the doctor.”

  “Yeah, I wasn’t able to find him.”

  “Brax, you left me over an hour ago.” Though I had no idea how long he’d been gone, I bluffed.

  “Sorry, Lux.” Taking my hand, he sighed, suddenly weary. “Everyone is running around. The trauma unit is all over the place and there’s no way to talk to any of them. The nurses, doctors, even orderlies, they’re all…”

  “All what, Brax?”

  “Lux, I saw a demon lurking in the hall. It came out of a room and headed for the elevators. I followed it but stopped when I reached the door of the room it’d just exited. The stench, Lux, it was incredible. I saw the body, drained, shriveled, ugly… like the things you see in your worst nightmare.”

  He fell silent, his jaw working with the remains of what he had to say. “It was weird, but it felt like I’d been there before… in that room. I don’t even remember ever coming to this hospital before, so it just didn’t make sense.”

  “Brax,” I said solemnly, almost fearfully. “Just before you saw the demon, what happened?”

  He shrugged and frowned. “I was looking for a nurse or doctor. Why?”

  “How did you feel? Were you angry? Did you want to lash out at anyone? Strike anyone?”

  His knowing smile told me he knew what I was fishing for. “Like that demon?”

  “You can’t blame me for verifying.” I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

  The knowing smile turned to tenderness as he brushed his hand across my brow. “How does your head feel? Asher said you had a concussion.”

  “It hurts, but apparently I have a surprisingly hard head, so I’ll be just fine. Listen Braxton.” I gripped his hand. “I’m worried about what’s happening. Moore was here not long ago and…”

  “Moore? How’d he even know you were here?” His initial annoyance with his rival’s visit quickly turned to suspicion. “You know, that could very well explain the body I saw.”

  “I don’t know,” I said shaking my head of the notion. “Somehow I don’t think so.”

  There was no way of knowing for sure, but my heart desperately needed to believe he had nothing to do with the recently found drained corpse.

  “He was incredibly upset,” I went on. “He wanted to kill Shayne for hurting me.”

&
nbsp; “That’s no surprise. I want to kill her myself.”

  “The way he left me… so abruptly. He just gave me a quick kiss and was gone. It felt like a goodbye kiss; so final.”

  Braxton’s tight grimace showed his disdain for Moore’s kiss. “Well, then good riddance,” he muttered.

  Glaring at him I freed my hand from his. “Brax, I don’t want him to do something foolish. We have to find him. We have to stop him before he does something he’ll regret.” Sitting up, I quickly grimaced, grabbed my side and lay back. The sharp and clear reminder of my injuries stabbed through me.

  “I need to get to the Hatchett’s,” I groaned as I tried again. Biting through the pain, I reached a straight and solid sitting position.

  “Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way you can move.”

  Ignoring him, I turned away and threw my legs over the side of the bed.

  “Lux, get back to bed.” He came around to my side.

  “Brax, my pain is nothing compared to what Moore may do. I have to do something.” My feet touched the floor and I knew I wouldn’t make it far. My head felt like it was swirling in the core of a cyclone and the pain of every bruise was amplified ten times.

  With stern force, Brax grabbed my arm, stopping me from going further and keeping me from falling to the floor. “Look, you're obviously in no condition to do anything about this, but if you really care that much, if it will ensure you lay here, get some rest and take care of yourself, I’ll go check on Moore myself. I’ll even find Asher and get him to help me out.”

  My heart swelled with pride and affection as I turned to him. “Really? You’ll do that? For me?” I sat back and allowed him to raise my legs to the bed.

  “And only for you.” He kissed me tenderly then swallowed, no doubt his pride.

  I knew the great effort required of him and was more grateful than words could say. His actions also helped eliminate any and all suspicion; no demon infected man would do such a thing. “Come here.” I held my arms out to him and pulled him into a warm embrace.

  His hug was strong and reassuring. “I’ll do anything for you,” he said as he butted his brow to mine. “Anything.”