Ultimate Temptations

by K. Anne

  “What are you hiding from me, Asher?”

  His gaze finally found mine. “Nothing you need to worry about right now. You’ll know soon enough.”

  “Why don’t we show her how it’s done?” Cain said after a moment of silence.

  “What?” I looked over at him.

  He held up his sword. “Give yours to Asher. We’ll give you a demonstration.”

  “Like I’d touch a demon sword,” Asher hissed.

  “Oh, that’s right. You’re above me. I almost forgot.” Cain’s tone was arrogant, but there was a calculating look in his eyes.

  “You know as well as I do that if I so much as prick my finger with that sword, I’m finished. I’m not a fool, Cain. Nothing you say will convince me to sign my own death certificate.”

  “One little prick would kill you?” I asked in disbelief.

  He nodded. “Yes, and the same goes for Cain if he were injured by an angel’s sword.”

  I looked down at the sword in my hand with newfound respect. “Wow.”

  “It just so happens that I have a sword of my own. Would you still like me to help you demonstrate?” Asher asked Cain.

  Cain seemed surprised. “And where have you been hiding that little gem? I would’ve sensed it nearby, just like you sensed these.”

  Asher chuckled. “Some of us are a little smarter than others. We don’t just leave things lying around.”

  Then, he vanished. It was so abrupt that even Cain seemed unsettled.

  I sighed. It must be nice to just vanish whenever you felt like it. I knew I would’ve used that little trick several times over the past few months.

  “I guess it’s just you and me then,” Cain said, turning back to me. “Are you ready?”

  “Not really,” I admitted as I held my sword up again.

  “The first thing you need to do is relax,” he pointed out.

  “I’m in a basement with a demon who just happens to be holding a magical demon sword. I don’t see myself relaxing anytime soon.”

  He snickered. “But I’m such a nice demon. You should know that by now.”

  “Oh, yes. You’re as sweet as a kitten,” I grumbled.

  He placed his sword so that it was leaning against the wall, and then he walked around to stand behind me. My already tense body tightened up even more when his hands rested on my shoulders.

  “Relax. Please.”

  I closed my eyes and forced myself to relax. I opened my eyes when Cain let go of me. I watched as he grabbed his sword and stopped to stand directly in front of me.

  “Take a deep breath,” he instructed. “Good. Now, let it out.”

  “Now what?” I asked.

  “Spread your legs.”

  “Excuse me?” I asked in disbelief.

  He rolled his eyes. “Spread your legs apart. Your feet need to be shoulder width apart, so you don’t fall. Balance is important when you’re holding a pointy object.”

  “Ha-ha.” I moved my feet farther apart.

  “Good. Now, hold your sword like this.”

  I watched as he lowered his hands so that they were even with his torso. The length of the sword ran up his body and stopped directly in front of his face. I mirrored his position, feeling a bit stupid.

  “Perfect. Always try to maintain this position. It will protect you.”

  Cain seemed pleased with me so far. That was surprising.

  “The next part—I want you to watch my every move. You’re not learning how to fight. You only need to know how to block. Keep your eyes not only on my sword, but on my body as well. If I move left, adjust your stance accordingly. Make sure your elbows are bent, so you have more control. Plus, your sword will be closer to your body.”

  “Okay, let’s do this,” I said.

  Cain’s expression went from playful to serious in a split second. My natural instinct was to tense up, but I refrained. It was harder than I’d thought it would be. I carefully studied Cain, waiting for him to strike. He stayed very still, assessing me in the same way I did with him.

  Finally, he moved. In a single moment, he went from completely still to swiveling his body and coming at me from the right. I turned my body toward him, but he was too fast. Before I could even think of blocking him, his sword was touching my side.

  I cursed.

  “Again,” he demanded.

  We moved back into our original positions once again and started over. Over and over again, his sword touched me. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t match his speed. Cain was lethal. He knew it, and after an hour of getting pretend-stabbed, I knew it, too.

  “This is pointless,” I finally said. “I’m never going to be able to block you, Cain. You’re too fast. What chance do I have against you?”

  “If you think I’m bad, wait until Death corners you. He’ll make me look like an old man with a walker.”

  I dropped my sword to the floor and sat down on the cold concrete. “Then, there’s absolutely no hope for me.”

  “Maybe not, but the only thing you can do is continue to practice with me. You’ll start to improve. Even after only an hour, you’re already getting better.”

  I laughed, but there was no humor in it. “Yet you still stabbed me every time.”

  He shrugged. “I’m just that good.”

  I glared at him.

  “Come on. Let’s get something to eat. I’m starving.” Cain picked my sword up off the floor and carried both of them back to the chest. He locked it before turning back to me. “How does pizza sound?” he asked.

  My stomach rumbled. “My stomach seems to think it sounds perfect.”

  I followed him upstairs and sat on the couch while he ordered a pizza for us.

  Once it arrived, we ate in silence. I expected Asher to appear at any moment, shooting glares at Cain, but he never did.

  In fact, I didn’t see him for the rest of the week.

  “Amanda! Amanda, wait!” I called out the next morning as soon as Cain and I spotted Amanda.

  She had turned to leave when she saw us moving toward her, but she stopped when she heard me.

  I glanced over at Cain. “I need you to give us a few minutes.”

  “Why?” he asked.

  “So, I can clean up the mess you made yesterday,” I said.

  He frowned. “Fine, but stay within sight. I’m going to try to find my idiot brother.”

  I headed in Amanda’s direction, afraid that she’d disappear if I didn’t hurry.

  “Hey,” I said when I reached her.

  “Hi.” Her tone was emotionless.

  I winced. It was like the past six months had never even happened. She acted like she didn’t even know me.

  “Can we talk?” I asked.

  She shrugged. “I guess.”

  I took her arm and led her over to a row of empty seats. I sat down, pulling her down with me.

  “You didn’t answer when I tried to call you last night,” I said.

  She shrugged again. “I was busy.”

  I sighed. “Right. Anyway, I just wanted to apologize for what happened yesterday.”

  “What happened? You have a new boyfriend and didn’t even bother to tell me. I couldn’t care less,” she said.

  “That’s a lie, Amanda. You do care. I want to explain why I didn’t tell you.” When she didn’t speak, I continued, “Asher and I aren’t exactly together. Cain exaggerated a little bit.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know what’s going on between Asher and me. We’re still trying to figure it out.”

  “Why didn’t you at least tell me that?” she asked. She didn’t try to hide the hurt in her voice this time. “We’re all each other has. I thought we told each other everything.”

  “I never had the chance to tell you. Asher was constantly around us. Plus, it scares me a little, you know? Ever since…” I hesitated. “Ever since my mom went nuts, I’ve been so lost. You’ve helped me, and for that, I’ll be forever grateful. Now that Cain
and Asher are here, it feels like things are getting even harder for me. I’m scared that I’m going to get hurt by one or even both of them.”

  I realized just how true my words were. Cain and Asher were now a huge part of my life. Even though I wanted to smack them most days, I was starting to care for both of them. I had no idea what to do with that. Once this was all over, both of them would have to leave. I’d be just as alone as I was before their abrupt invasion of my life. That thought scared me more than I wanted to admit. I was getting attached. In my situation, that was the dumbest thing I could possibly do.

  “So, you’re not really with Asher?” Amanda asked, pulling me from my thoughts.

  “I don’t know what’s going on with either of them, Amanda. That’s the truth. The only thing I can tell you is that I feel a connection with both of them.”

  Amanda cracked a grin. “Both of them, huh? Can I just say that I think you’re officially involved in the hottest love triangle since…well, ever.”

  I rolled my eyes. “There’s no love triangle. I promise. Things are much more complicated than that.”

  “Care to elaborate?” she asked.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t.” When I saw hurt flash through her eyes, I hurried on to say, “I would tell you everything if it was my secret to tell, but it’s not. I’m sorry for that.”

  She frowned. “I thought you decided to start keeping things from me because you didn’t want to be friends anymore. I assumed you were going to replace me with Cain and Asher. I was stupid to think that.”

  I gently hugged her. “I could never replace you, Amanda. You’ve stuck by me when everyone else abandoned me. You’re what a true friend really is.”

  She hugged me back. “Sorry I got all huffy. It won’t happen again. I promise.”

  “It’d better not because if you leave me alone with those two, I’ll strangle you myself.”

  We sat together until the first bell sounded. I spotted Cain across the room. He headed toward us with a frown on his face. He joined us as we started walking down the hallway. He responded when Amanda greeted him, but other than that, he stayed silent.

  Once we left Amanda at her locker, I turned to him. “Did you find Asher?”

  He shook his head. “Nope, which leaves us with a problem. You’re going to be alone all morning.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I said as I started up the stairs.

  “I’ll keep an eye on you,” Cain said when we reached the top.

  “How?” I asked.

  He grinned as he glanced around the hallway. I looked around, too. There were only a few students, and none of them were looking at us.

  “What are you going—” I stopped talking when I realized that Cain wasn’t standing in front of me anymore.

  “Of course. You’re going to go all invisible man on me, so you can stalk me in the bathroom,” I said. “Have fun with that. I won’t be going anywhere near a bathroom today.”

  He didn’t reappear to respond, not that I’d expected him to. I sighed as I walked to my locker and tossed my things inside. It creeped me out to know that Cain was with me even though I couldn’t see him. I wondered how many times in my life I had been watched by an angel or demon without even knowing. Their little disappearing act was disturbing, to say the least.

  I quickly walked to class, pretending that I didn’t have an invisible demon somewhere close by. I did groan out loud when I walked into history and saw Stacey was already there, waving at me.

  “Morning, Ella,” she chirped.

  I nodded, hoping that she’d take the hint and leave me alone. Of course, that wasn’t going to happen.

  “So, I heard that you’re with Asher Collins. Is it true?” she asked before I could sit down.

  I shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

  She laughed. “With the way he looks, I don’t see how it could be.”

  I glared. “You know, there’s a lot more to Cain and Asher than just their looks.”

  “Like what?”

  “Never mind,” I said as Mrs. Carpenter walked in. There was no way I could say a word about either of them without Cain giving me crap about it later.

  “Well, since you’re with Asher, you should introduce me to Cain,” Stacey said, ignoring the fact that class was starting.

  “You don’t want to meet him,” I whispered.

  “I promise you that I do. I mean, have you seen the boy?” She giggled. “Of course you have. You’re dating his twin.”

  “Miss Winston, is there something you’d like to share with the class?” Mrs. Carpenter asked.

  Stacey turned around. “Nope. I was just talking to Ella about our homework,” she lied.

  Mrs. Carpenter didn’t look convinced, but she turned her attention back to the chalkboard.

  I sighed in relief when Stacey didn’t turn back around. From my right, I swore I could hear Cain laughing.

  The rest of the day was uneventful. Amanda seemed to be back to her usual self. Cain decided to reappear around lunchtime. The three of us sat together at lunch. I continued to search the room for Asher, but he was nowhere to be seen. When Amanda asked where he was, Cain lied and told her that he was out sick. By the end of the day, he still hadn’t made an appearance. I was starting to get worried.

  “Do you think he’s okay?” I asked Cain once we made it back to my house.

  “Who?” he asked.

  “Seriously?” I asked. “Your brother. You know, the one we haven’t seen since last night.”

  “Oh, him. I’m sure he’s fine. He’s probably off somewhere singing with a choir or rescuing stray animals. Maybe he’s feeding a starving village in Africa.”

  “You’re not funny,” I seethed. “This is serious, Cain, and you know it. Asher wouldn’t just up and disappear like this.”

  He shrugged. “Maybe he was summoned.”

  “Summoned?” I asked.

  “Yeah, summoned, as in the big, bad boss wanted to see him.”

  “Oh, I never even thought of that. Do you guys get summoned a lot?”

  “I don’t know about him, but I rarely get summoned. I’m sure I will soon though since I’m not on a normal job.”

  “That sounds…fun,” I said after a moment.

  He smirked. “Yeah, it’s a bucket of laughs.”

  “What happens if you get summoned while Asher is gone?”

  “I hand you a sword and wish you the best of luck until I get back.” He frowned. “Speaking of swords, let’s get started on your training again. Homework can wait.”

  I sighed.

  Spending the entire week with Cain following me everywhere grated on my nerves. The fact that he seemed to enjoy tormenting me didn’t help either. I tried to ignore his sarcastic remarks and constant flow of innuendos, but it was hard. Most of the time, I kept my cool by imagining locking him in a room that he couldn’t escape from or hitting him really hard. Whenever I pictured that, he would always ask what I was smiling about.

  By the time Friday evening rolled around, I was ready to hand deliver myself to Death just to escape Cain.

  “What am I supposed to do tonight while you work?” Cain grumbled from my bed.

  I glanced over to see him lying on top of my sheets like he owned them.

  “You could always make yourself invisible and go watch one of the movies.” I grabbed my coat off my chair.

  “While I’d prefer to do that, I can’t. I have to keep you within sight, remember?”

  I sighed. “Cain, seriously, I’ve showered and peed several times this week without you around. Death hasn’t made an appearance. I think I’ll be safe while I’m working. Besides, I’ll be surrounded by people all night. He isn’t going to kill me while I make popcorn.”

  “I won’t take that chance. If Asher comes back to find you dead, he’ll kill me—again.”

  “Have you heard anything at all from him?” I asked for the hundredth time.

  While Cain seemed unconcerned about Asher’s abrupt disapp
earance, I was starting to seriously worry that I’d never see him again.

  “Nope, and I don’t expect to. If he was summoned, there’s no way he’ll be able to contact me.”

  “What if he wasn’t summoned? What if he just…left? I mean, he was really upset the last time we saw him.”

  Cain sat up. “Ella, there’s no way that he can just walk away from an assignment. I can’t either. It doesn’t matter how angry I make him. He’s stuck with me.”

  “And what if they pulled him from his assignment?” I asked.

  “They won’t. They’re too curious. Plus, they’d never let him walk away when you also have a demon on your tail.”

  I glanced at the clock. “I need to head to work if I want to make it there on time.”

  He stood. “Fine, let’s go.”

  Annoyed, I followed him out of my room and down the stairs. I stopped in the living room to let Uncle Jack know that I was leaving before continuing out the front door. I ignored Cain as I walked to my own car and climbed in.

  “Don’t you want to take my ride?” He climbed into the passenger seat.

  “Nope. I don’t get off work until midnight. It’ll be too cold to ride around on a motorcycle,” I told him as I started my car.

  He groaned in defeat and slumped against his seat. “You’re absolutely no fun, Ella. I hope you know that.”

  “I’m aware.” I backed out of my driveway and pulled onto the main road.

  I lovingly patted my steering wheel, glad to be driving my own car again.

  Uncle Jack had finally remembered to call his friend to fix my car last Thursday. He’d discovered the alternator was bad. I’d cringed when I stopped by the parts store to buy a new one. It had taken a massive chunk out of my savings, but I needed a car. I knew my uncle would have paid for the part, but I hadn’t wanted him to. He’d already done so much for me. Plus, I felt bad for the way Asher had messed with his head.

  As I drove to work, Cain constantly flipped through the radio channels. He seemed intolerant to commercials.

  “That’s annoying,” I finally said.

  “You’re annoying, yet I’m still forced to deal with you,” he shot back.