by Nikki Drost
“God, I’ll never get used to that,” Cass says as he clutches his stomach.
Adam closes his eyes and takes a few deep breaths. “I think I’m going to hurl.”
The only one of us that appears unaffected in Micah, the bastard. Even I’m feeling nauseous and light headed.
“Gentlemen, welcome to Westhaven, Massachusetts. The current time is ‘who the hell cares’, the temperature outside is ‘cold as fuck’. Thank you for traveling the angelic express, please make sure to tip your reaper on the way out. Also, try to keep your stomach contents to yourself or at the very least take it somewhere far enough away from me so I don’t have to see it. Tell all of your friends and have a fan-fuck-tastic night.”
God, I love that wiseass angel.
After a few more deep breaths to settle my stomach, I make my way over to my son.
“I’m sorry, Dad, I know I was selfish, but I didn’t ask for any of this. I didn’t ask to be conceived. I didn’t ask for these powers and I certainly didn’t ask to be the stupid profit. Do you know what it feels like to have people look at you like you’re some sort of freak? I live in seclusion because the good people of heaven actually fear me! All I want is a place where I fit in, a place where I am treated like a normal person. I wanted to know what it felt like to have a family, one that was made up of men just like myself. Instead, I end up putting everyone that I care about in danger.”
“That’s enough,” I growl. Reaching forward I grip the back of his neck and force Alaric to look up at me. “Listen up, son, I know exactly what you are going through and so do your uncles because we have all been there. You are not a freak and fuck all of those people who can’t see that. We were all chosen for a reason and whether you like it or not, so were you, but here is the thing about destiny, nothing is written in stone. Every one of our actions has a consequence and by coming here, you have changed your path. Be careful what you wish for, son, because now that I know about your existence, you are stuck with me as your father and I’ll warn you now, it isn’t going to be a cake walk.”
If he thinks I’ll go easy on him and allow him to get away with certain shit because he’s special, he has another think coming. I’ll still expect him to do chores around the house, do all of his homework, and eat his vegetables because that’s what normal kids do. I’ll also ground his ass when he gets out of line and seeing as how Kelsey and I are his parents I assume that will happen more often than not.
“What are you saying?” he asks with hope in his dark eyes.
“I’m saying that no matter what anyone wants to throw at me, I’m going to fight to keep you. I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into because we are all a bunch of crazy bastards.”
“Ah, Jamie,” Azrael clears his throat, “You do know that isn’t Alaric, right? Kudos on the speech though.”
What the hell is he talking about?
I give the angel a “You’re crazy look,” over my shoulder, only when I turn back around, Alaric’s eyes are turquoise instead of brown.
“Remiel, is that you?” I utter the Archangel’s name in disbelief. “Where is my son?”
The angel of hope pushes himself off of the ground, then, with a snap of his fingers, his true self is revealed. “He is safe, no thanks to us.”
Remi tilts his chin toward something over my shoulder. The second I turn around, I instantly feel the electrical charge. Standing a few yards away are the four demonic Horsemen and my son. Just like the angel of hope, the four demons magically transform into Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.
“I’d like to congratulate the five of you for passing the test,” Michael states sincerely. He claps Alaric on the back, and then he gives him a little nudge in my direction.
“Get over here,” I grab my son by his shoulders, spinning him around so I can inspect him for any signs of injury and thankfully, he seems to be unharmed. “Don’t you ever fucking take off like that again, do you hear me?”
God, I feel like I’m having déjà vu yet again. I must have heard the same words from each one of my brothers at one time or another. I just never thought I’d be saying those words to my own son. Once my inspection is over, I pull him close for a hug.
Alaric wraps his arms around my torso and lays his head on my shoulder. The act itself should feel strange, but it doesn’t.
“You’ve got two seconds to tell me what the hell is going on here, Michael.” The angel better have one hell of an explanation for putting all of through this.
“Your anger is justifiable, James, however this was the only way to put all of you back onto the right path. Some of you were starting to lose faith in us, in our cause, and inevitably, you would have lost it in each other.”
Bullshit. There isn’t anything in this world that could make me lose faith in any of my brothers. Truth is, Michael saw an opportunity to mess with me and he took it, the angel needs to get a fucking hobby.
“When our creator informed us of Alaric’s importance to the world he instructed us to remove him from your care. He felt it was the safest course of action. I did not agree.”
“What the hell are you talking about? You told me in no uncertain terms that I either helped you procure the prophet or I’d lose my best friend.” I look the angel dead in his eyes. “I’m not giving him up, Michael. You can threaten me, send demons after me, you can do your worst, but my pup is staying with me and his mother.”
“Dude, you are one headstrong shifter.” Gabriel shakes his head. “Open your ears, bro, and listen. All of this started a few months ago when you asked Azrael to look into your mate’s future. He saw the end of the world and Adam’s death was the beginning. One by one you would have fallen, leaving the supernatural world unprotected. Raphael and I broke the rules to bring Adam back hoping that would be enough to change things, but it wasn’t enough.”
This can’t be right, I mean, I can see how losing Adam would have affected all of us, but we would have continued to fight for our race. Being an Enforcer is more than a job, it’s who we are.
“Alaric was removed from your care the first time around that much was true,” Uriel interjects. “Everything the prophet told you about the fate of his parents would have come to pass. Michael took it upon himself to make a deal with god, giving all of you the chance to change your fates. Alaric was as much in the dark about all of this as you were, James. He had to prove himself as well.”
“So instead of coming to me and telling me the truth you thought lying to me and putting my son in danger was the better way to go? There is something seriously wrong with your logic.”
Freaking angels, I’m starting to wonder if their halos are screwed on too tight.
“Hey, you weren’t the only one they deceived,” Azrael snaps. “I should have been informed of this little fiasco, but once again I was left in the dark.”
Remiel begins to laugh, “We did not bring you in on this because you were too close to the situation, Azrael, that and you are incapable of keeping a secret.”
The angel of death actually looks affronted by Remiel’s deformation of his character. It only lasts for a minute though. “Screw you, golden boy! The day will come when you need my help and you and the righteous brothers over there can all kiss my ass.” And just like that, death disappears into thin air.
The poor bastard, it sucks when you are taken for granted by the people closest to you.
“James,” Michael sighs, “I hope that one day we will be able to get past all of the hostility that has grown between us. You may not be able to see this now, but I have and will always look out for you. I know I have not said it often enough, but I am proud of you, James.”
I’m not sure what to say to that. I can count on one hand the times Michael has given me any sort of praise. Despite my anger over this whole twisted situation, I know someday I will forgive him for everything that he’s done.
“Honestly, right now I’m not sure if I want to kick your ass or hug the hell out of you.” I shake my
head unable to believe what I am about to say. “For now let’s just call a truce. Now, I’m assuming that resurrecting Adam and us passing your test didn’t magically fix everything. So the next time you need our help how about you just ask for it, huh. No more threats, no more lies, no more cryptic bullshit. Do you think you guys can do that?”
Raphael answers without hesitation, “Yes, of course. Now, with that being said, we have won this round, but the battle has only begun. We will need your help with the next challenge.”
Well, that didn’t take long.
“Fine,” I grumble, “Let’s hear it.”
Michael instantly jumps into leader mode. “An angel went missing many centuries ago. We had assumed that he had been killed. However, it seems he has met a different sort of fate. It has come to our attention that a particular creature has hidden him away somewhere. It would not be in our favor to approach this man, his hatred for angels runs deep. So, in light of our new arrangement, the four of you will be expected to find this being, and then convince him to release the angel to you.”
Oh for fuck’s sake! “Let me guess, you aren’t going to give us any more information than that. No name, no location, and no indication of what sort of creature we are even dealing with.”
Here we go again.
“The only information that we are allowed to give you is that this man resides in Westhaven. I’m sorry, but we need to go,” Michael says while eying me cautiously.
He’s probably wondering if I will pull some crazy stunt to stop him from leaving with my son, but he doesn’t have to worry. I know Alaric has to return to his own time-period, there isn’t any way around that, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.
As I embrace my son, my nose lands in his mass of curls and I instinctively breathe in his scent until my lungs hurt. “I love you, son. There won’t be a day that goes by that I won’t think about you. Keep your head down and your fists up. You’ve got to protect that face of yours. Girls won’t give you the time of day if you are covered in battle wounds,” I tease trying to lighten the mood.
“But I thought girls liked scars?” His voice is laced with confusion. “Uncle Lincoln said it was a great conversation starter.”
I toss my head back with laughter. “Christ, I’m going to kick that Kodiak’s ass for filling your head full of crap.” With one last squeeze, I release my son and force myself to remain in place while the inevitable happens.
Remiel places his hand on my son’s shoulder, his lips curve into a mischievous smile.
“Speaking of the werebear please let him know that I will see him soon.”
Before I get a chance to ask Remi what the hell he means by that statement, the group of them disappear into the ether. God damn it!
There is only one reason for the Archangel of hope to pay someone a visit. Death.
Epilogue
Kelsey
It’s been six weeks since I found out I was pregnant and so much as happened since then. I sip my hot chocolate and nuzzle further under the fur blanket Jamie had tucked around me. Three days ago, we arrived at my grandfather’s fishing cabin in the Adirondacks to start our honeymoon. Much like Adam, my husband had wanted to take me to Europe, but a few weeks before our wedding, a group of Russian vampires had shown up in town and started making trouble for the Enforcers.
So, here we are in a luxury log cabin in the middle of nowhere surrounded by nature. I’d kill to be on a beach sipping virgin cocktails, but this is nice too. I reach for my phone and scroll through the numerous pictures Andy had sent me from our wedding. It was a beautiful outdoor ceremony on New Year’s Eve. All of us had donned furs to keep warm from the freezing cold.
I remember thinking that Jamie looked like an ancient warrior as I had walked down the aisle. Lincoln even sang an Avril Lavigne song that held so much meaning for the both of us. Between the torches, fire-pits, and hundreds of strands of white twinkle lights, I felt as though I had been transported into a distant land of fire and ice.
One of the highlights of my day was finding out that Andy and Adam are also expecting a baby. The kicker is our babies will be born within weeks of one another, how cool is that? Jamie had just laughed and said that there had to be something in the water. I think he is secretly thrilled that our kids will grow up together.
I stop at a particular picture that had the entire wedding party cracking up. Jamie had been rather impatient when it came to the length of the ceremony. Dominick, being the wise man that he is, told my fiancé that having patience was a virtue. Jamie’s response had been, “So is being ambitious and right now you and your pretty words are standing in the way of my goal.” I swear I almost fell over with laughter, that man certainly has a way of keeping things interesting.
“Hey, you’re only supposed to smile at me like that, Mrs. Trudeau,” Jamie says as he drops an armful of firewood into a nearby rack before joining my side. His hands find their way underneath my shirt and rest on top my tiny baby bump.
“I was just thinking about our wedding.”
“Already having regrets, huh? Well, too bad because now you really are stuck with me,” he teases playfully.
“Well, if I have to be stuck with someone I’m happy it’s you,” I tease back. “I love you, Jamie.”
“I love you too, princess. How’s my son doing today? His heartbeat sounds strong.”
God, it’s so weird that he can actually hear our baby’s heartbeat without special equipment, but I guess it’s all part of having exceptional hearing. I’ll know what that’s like once I have Alaric and Jamie makes me immortal. He had wanted to do it sooner, but Micah suggested that we wait seeing as how my DNA will be altered during the process and he wasn’t sure if it would harm our son or not. Once we found that out it was an easy decision on both our parts.
“So far so good, but you know I’d feel better if I could see an actual doctor.”
You have no idea how upset I was when I found out I was going to have to deliver my baby at home. Which of course means no chance at getting any pain medication, the whole thing scares the crap out of me. There really should be a special shifter type hospital for this sort of thing.
“I know, princess, but it’s not safe for you or our son. Do you know how easy it would be for my enemies to infiltrate a crowded hospital and walk off with him? I’m not risking it. I’ll find a midwife or some sort of supernatural doctor before your due date, I promise.”
His assurances should appease my nervousness, but in all honesty, I don’t think I’ll relax until I’m holding my son in my arms. I know Jamie feels the same way, only he is better at hiding his fear than I am. It still blows my mind that Jamie and I managed to create something so spectacular. I think back to our first night together and even though our future was unclear, our fate had been sealed.
I idly play with the charms on my new necklace that Jamie had given me for a wedding present. One of the charms is made of iolite and it is supposed to protect me from nightmares and block Michael from visiting me anymore. So far it’s been working, but I wouldn’t put anything past the chief of the Immortal Knights. No matter what is in store for us, I know that Jamie will keep us safe.
“Are you sure you’re okay with all of this?” I ask as I run my nails over Jamie’s scalp.
A smile breaks out over his face, he leans forward, pressing gentle kisses to the spot where our son resides. “I’m better than okay, princess. I can’t wait to hold this little guy in my arms. I’m going to give him everything that I didn’t have and more.”
Jamie’s hands begin to wander south as does his mouth. “I’ve been thinking, princess, when this little guy gets evicted I want to start on another one. Now, I know we still have a few months to go, but I think we should start practicing for it now. I’d hate to get rusty.”
“You’re joking, right?” My jaw drops open in utter shock.
“Hell no, Alaric needs siblings. I was thinking three or four ought to do it.”
“Oh my god, who a
re you and what have you done with my husband?”
“I’m the same man I’ve always been, only now I’ve removed my head from my ass and I can finally see the light. I owe it all to you, princess. You’ve given me a precious gift and I don’t know how I will ever repay you for that.”
I tilt my head as Jamie begins to kiss my neck. “I can think of a few ways.”
The End
Watch me Burn Playlist
I Put A Spell On You by CCR
I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones
Perfect by My Darkest Days
All American Nightmare by Hinder
Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo
Troublemaker by Olly Murs
Wicked Game (Christ Isaak cover) by Stone Sour
Up In Flames by She Wants Revenge
Little Lover by ACDC
Badass by Saliva
Hell Yeah by Rev Theory
Bad Girlfriend by Theory of a Deadman
Bed of Roses (Bon Jovi cover) by Hinder
Survive by Sick Puppies
Watch Me Burn by Lansdowne
Hey Girl (Sex Type Thing) by Angels Fall
All Nite (Don’t Stop) by Janet Jackson
E.T. by Katy Perry
The Phoenix by Fall Out Boy
Blaze of Glory by Bon Jovi
World So Cold by 12 Stones
Torn To Pieces by Pop Evil
Four Rusted Horses by Marilyn Manson
Fireproof by Pillar
Keep Holding On (Avril Lavigne cover) by Boyce Avenue
Acknowledgments
First, I’d like to thank everyone who has purchased Watch me Burn. Jamie and Kelsey’s story was so much fun to write. If you have the time, please leave a review on Amazon and Goodreads. Reviews are so important to us authors.
