Faegen, Trinity - Mephisto Covenant, The

by BTKT

  “Even though she left you here?”

  “She’s not stupid. What could she do except get herself killed?”

  He bent and picked her up, turned, and walked toward the door. “You’re close to crossing over, aren’t you? Another day or so and you’d be Mephisto.”

  Stiff in his arms, she constantly twisted her wrists, desperate to get loose from the rope. Just how strong was she?

  “Escape is impossible,” he said smugly, walking toward his car. “I can outrun you, and despite your unnatural strength, I could squash you like a bug. Even if you break the rope, you’re not going anywhere.”

  In the middle of plotting her escape, and with the depressing fear that he was right and she couldn’t do it, sixth sense told her Jax was near. She could feel him, out there, somewhere. Then she caught the scent of cider and cinnamon, and her heart soared. “I don’t have to break the rope. You’re toast.”

  A wall of black appeared, and Bruno stopped in his tracks. The Mephisto had arrived. Watching them materialize out of thin air, she remembered with perfect clarity the night she met Jax. “Of all those three billion guys, why would you pick me? I’m

  a freak.” She wanted to tell him she’d never pick any of those other three billion guys, because he was all she wanted. He was her freak, and she’d love him forever.

  fifteen

  mr. bruno tried to drop her and make a run for it, but he was too late. Jax flew at them, his trench coat opening wide, enveloping them in darkness. She’d barely had time to catch her breath before she was blinking in the light of day, lying on the ground. On sand. She felt it beneath her cheek. Lifting her head, she saw Jax standing over Mr. Bruno, his arms raised while he shouted toward the sky. She couldn’t understand him.

  Jerking her hands, she finally broke the rope, hurried to untie her ankles, then scrambled to her feet. They were in a desert, with soaring dunes, rippled by wind waves. No vegetation of any kind. A desolate place where dawn was breaking. They were very far from Colorado.

  Mr. Bruno cried desperately, sobbing, begging Jax to spare him. He looked toward her, his eyes filled with tears. “Please, please, don’t let him do this! Save me!”

  She watched in fascinated horror as the sand beneath the man began to swirl, like a tornado, a vortex of fury. Jax kept chanting, arms raised, his trench coat flying out behind him, until the sand suddenly sucked Mr. Bruno under, and his crying pleas were silenced.

  She was watching Jax’s arms slowly lower when Key appeared with Julianne, Zee with East, and Phoenix with Brett. All three were thrown to the sand, and Jax raised his arms again, beginning his strange chant to the sky.

  Brett looked at her, crying hard. “Sasha, help me! I’ll die down there! Tell him to stop!”

  East was still dazed, but managed to say, “Done for.”

  Julianne was drunk, not completely aware. She glared at Sasha. “I hate your guts.”

  Sasha watched the sand begin to swirl, then quickly looked up before they disappeared, focusing on Jax. He never looked down, didn’t appear to hear Brett’s cries for mercy. When it was quiet again, he slowly lowered his arms. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, unable to look away from his black eyes.

  Ty appeared just then with Melanie. She didn’t beg, but looked up at Sasha and said spitefully, “It won’t be long before your mother joins me down there.”

  “What did you ask for in exchange for your soul, Melanie?” Her eyes were wild and evil. “Your mother’s complete downfall. She lost her job, her honor, and she was sent back to Russia, where she’d sworn never to return.” Melanie laughed, and it sounded like a crazy person’s hysteria.

  “Why do you hate her so much?”

  “Because Tim was in love with her. Did you know that? He would have left me for her, but she picked Mike. When he died, everyone thought Tim had done it, because he was still in love with Katya. But it wasn’t Tim.”

  “Who was it? Who betrayed my dad?” Jax was raising his arms. Melanie looked at him, and the first sign of fear came into her eyes. “Make him stop and I’ll tell you.” Jax continued, and she knew he wouldn’t stop. He couldn’t

  stop this any more than he could stop breathing. “Good-bye, Melanie.” “Please, Sasha, I’ll tell you, I swear. Just make him stop!” “I can’t.” She scanned the faces of his brothers before she looked again at Melanie. “Even if I could, I wouldn’t.” “Just like Mike, self-righteous and perfect. I hated him, all my life, but I got mine.” “What did you do to him?” She shouted as the sand sucked her under, “It was me! I ratted out the arrogant son of a—” Silence reigned. Now she knew who Tim threatened to call whenever Melanie went off. The CIA. He had known what Melanie did, and held it over her head as a way to control her.

  Sasha moved her gaze from the innocent-looking sand to Jax’s solemn face. “Didn’t Melanie just take the oath a few weeks ago?”

  He nodded.

  “But Dad was killed last year. Why would she do that to her own brother if she—”

  “Evil exists in the world, Sasha. It’s why my father has a job. Not everyone who commits evil acts is a lost soul. Humans have been tempted by evil since Eve ate the apple.” He smiled wryly. “Except the Anabo.”

  “Where are we?” “Saudi Arabia. The Empty Quarter.” One by one, his brothers disappeared. When it was just the two of them, he took a step toward her. “You’ll never know how many times I died tonight when I came home and you were gone.”

  “From the game?”

  He shook his head. “I couldn’t go to the game. We found all we needed to know about the Skia meeting, and with the heavy snow today, we decided to take down Bruno and the rest tonight. We’d placed the doppelgangers, and were about to pick them up to bring them here, but I was worried, so I went by the house to check on you. I went to your room, thinking you’d be in bed, asleep, but you weren’t there. You weren’t”—he swallowed— “anywhere. And I was so afraid, because Eryx knows, and you were away from . . . the mountain. I didn’t know where . . .”

  He rushed at her and squeezed her so tight, she couldn’t breathe, crying against her hair. “Oh, God, Sasha, please . . . don’t hate . . . that you have to . . . stay.”

  She wrapped her arms around his middle and clung to him, crying because he was crying. “Jax, I had already decided to stay.”

  He went still. “You did?”

  “I can’t turn my back on all this, on Eryx and what he does to people.” She moved so he had to lift his head and looked up into his eyes, surrounded by spiky black lashes. “And I don’t want to leave you. I love you.”

  His black eyes welled with more tears. She went on tiptoe and kissed him. “WhatifInever...Idon’tknowifIcanloveyoulikeI’m supposed to. I’m crazy in love with you, but is it the same? Is it what matters?”

  “I don’t know, but we have a long time to figure it out.”

  The wind whistled across the dunes, blowing sand against them. “After they come back with the others, we can go home.” Home. Where she would live for the rest of time. It was way too weird a concept to really wrap her mind around, but she could at least think about the near future. “Can I stay in your room?” “I would love that. My feet hang off the end of your bed.” “I wasn’t really talking about sleeping, Jax.” He was very serious, almost frowning. “Are you sure, Sasha?

  Absolutely sure? There’s no going back.” She nodded. “Absolutely sure.” He kissed her then, and she knew he was happy. Ecstatic, even. She would be, too, except for one thing. When he lifted his head, she asked if she could see her mother. “I know what will happen to her,” she glanced at the sand, “but I want to see her, one last time.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’ll upset you, and wouldn’t it be better if your last memory of her is how she was before she took the oath?”

  “I have to know why she did it. I can’t spend the rest of time not knowing. Please, Jax. Let me see her.”

  He sighed and pressed her head against his
shoulder. “I’ll ask Key.”

  A few minutes later, Phoenix appeared and tossed Scott to the ground, followed by Ty, who had Mr. Hoolihan. Then Denys appeared, and Sasha clapped her hand over her mouth to keep from crying out when she saw Chris land on the sand. Maybe she was changed, maybe she no longer felt compassion for the lost souls, but watching Jax send Chris to that dark pit far beneath the surface made her cry. Not for Chris as he was, but for the man he could have been.

  sixteen

  she’d taken a shower, eaten the soup and crusty French bread Mathilda had brought, then watched the last of Sleepless in Seattle on the TV behind the Mephisto portrait while she waited for Jax to come back to his room and tell her whether Key had agreed to let her see her mother. She didn’t remember falling asleep, but when she woke, she was beneath the covers and he was there beside her, his head propped in his hand while he slowly stroked her hair.

  He was on top of the coverlet, wearing only a pair of sweatpants. She drank him in, the shape of his chest, his shoulders, his muscled arms. She turned toward him and he kissed her, soft and gentle, murmuring words she didn’t understand, his arms around her, his hands caressing her, drawing the shirt up and over her

  head. He gently pushed her to her back and moved away, to join her under the covers. She knew he slipped out of the sweatpants, but she made no move to touch him, content to wait, to feel his hands against her skin, especially her breasts. “Your hands are so warm.”

  “Are you cold?” “Not now.” He went to his elbow again and brought his face close to hers,

  so that their noses were almost touching and she could feel his breath against her lips, but he didn’t kiss her, whispering instead, “Are you sure?”

  She nodded.

  “You’re upset and grieving. I’m maybe taking advantage when you’re vulnerable.”

  He was this close to sex, but he was worried she might regret it, that she was only in his bed because she needed affection. She slid her arms around his neck and slipped her hands into his soft, silky hair. “I love you, Jax.”

  “The first time with me isn’t going to be like it would be with a regular guy. There’s not only the usual complications, I think it will burn, because of the mark.”

  “It’s okay.”

  He settled his lips over hers and kissed her like he meant it, slowly at first, then deeper, more seductively, drawing her to him without saying a word or making a move. Her body took on a will of its own, straining toward his, pressing against him.

  While he kissed her, tangling his tongue with hers, he kept one arm around her and let the other drift across her skin, lower and lower, until his fingers brushed against the hair between her thighs. He pushed her legs apart and touched her, so soft, so slow, until her urge to giggle passed and desire roared through her, putting every nerve on notice that something very big was about to happen. She moved constantly, her hands all over him, touching his hot skin, trying to pull him closer.

  But he barely budged, stayed where he was, kissed her over and over, ran his lips down her throat and across her breasts, and through it all, his hand never left the apex of her thighs, his fingers stroking, tweaking, slipping just inside of her, until she thought she’d go crazy.

  With no warning at all, she sucked in a deep breath and lost herself, blown away that anything could feel this incredible, this powerful—and she’d lived almost eighteen years without a clue. She was breathing as hard as if she’d run a race. “Awesome . . . that was . . . awesome.”

  “You liked that, did you?” “Only a lot.” He kissed the tip of her nose before he moved to stretch above her, his weight against his arms while he nudged her legs farther apart with his knee. Then he was inside of her with one hard push, and his beautiful face had the strangest expression—like fear and joy, all at the same time. “I’m sorry . . . I thought it’d be like a bandage, better to make it quick.”

  “It didn’t hurt, Jax.”

  He was surprised. Moving his body, he asked in a rough voice, “Does it now?”

  She shook her head. He moved again, asking a question with his eyes. “No.” She smiled up at him. “Do that again.” He did, and she raised her head from the pillow to kiss him.

  “Now do that whole thing again, but faster.” His breath quickened. “Wrap your legs around me,” he whispered, just before he pressed her against the pillow and kissed her, sucking all the air from her lungs until she was gasping. Moving his mouth along her throat, he nipped at her with his teeth, then kissed that spot before traveling on to another. Her whole world narrowed to his wonderful face, his spectacular body, moving inside of her, strong and sure.

  Suddenly, his head went back, his eyes closed, and his body went stiff and still. Deep inside, she felt a burn that seared and scorched and traveled all through her groin, making her flinch and try to jerk away from him. But he held her fast with the weight of his body, and when the pain was gone, she began to shake, and shudder, grasping his arms, his back, clenching his hips between her legs, holding on while she flew apart. She had no idea that anything could feel like this. It was incredible. It went on and on.

  When her body finally relaxed and she drifted back to consciousness, she saw the look on his face and immediately turned her head.

  “Don’t look away. Why are you looking away from me?”

  “Because I scratched your arms, and I know I yelled something embarrassing.”

  He said with a note of wonder, “The air all around you shimmered. It was . . . you were . . . the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” Shifting, he lay beside her and gathered her close, until her head was in the nook between his chin and his shoulder. “Thank you,” he whispered.

  “For this?”

  “For staying.” Lifting his head, he blew toward each candle in the room until every one was extinguished and all that remained was the soft flicker of the dying fire. “Get some sleep, Sasha. Tomorrow, we’re going to Russia.”

  seventeen

  a hushed noise woke her just to a place between sleep and awake, allowing awareness to filter in slowly. There was that noise again, the soft, gentle squeak of leather. Other noises and sensations drifted into her conscience—Jax’s even breathing, his warm chest rising and falling beneath her cheek, the ticking of the antique clock in the bookshelves, a whisper of skin against skin.

  She was sprawled across him, lying on her stomach, her legs and hips tangled up in the sheets, one arm slung across his shoulder, her hand in his hair, and the other stretched across her pillow. Jax was on his back, slightly turned toward her, one arm across her body, his hand resting on her backside.

  There was that weird creaking noise again. Then a soft weren’t alone. She opened one eye and saw Zee. Turning her head slightly, she opened the other and saw all of Jax’s brothers, lined up there at the end of the bed, staring at them.

  Burying her face against Jax’s chest, she stroked his hair and mumbled his name. He stirred and said in a hoarse, sleep-filled voice, “Again? Three times wasn’t enough?” His chuckle rumbled against her chest. “And here I was worried you wouldn’t like it.”

  She must be the shade of a tomato, she was so embarrassed. “Jax,” she whispered, “we have company.”

  She felt him move when he lifted his head.

  “Aw, come on, you guys can’t be serious. What the hell are you doing here?”

  Key said, “We have to go now, Jax. It’s already three in the afternoon in St. Petersburg.”

  “Did you all have to come?”

  “None of us had to come. We could have called, or sent Mathilda. But we wanted to make sure everything was all right. Sasha, are you all right?”

  “She was fine, until all of you came in here and embarrassed her to death. Get lost.”

  Key said in a very authoritative voice, “You agreed not to mark her until after we return from Russia and she becomes immortal. I’d like an explanation.”

  “I want to be able to find her. I never want to go through 416 wha
t I went through last night.” “How did you find me last night? You never said.” “Brody tracked the GPS on the car you took.” “You marked her so you can find her, and now, so can Eryx.

  If anything goes wrong, she has no chance of hiding until we can get to her. This is a serious infraction, Jax. When we return, there’ll be a council. If anything happens because of her mark, I don’t need to tell you what we’ll do to you.”

  “If anything happens to Sasha, I won’t give a damn what you do to me.”

  “I’ve got half a mind to forbid the trip. It’s a pointless risk.” “Sasha saying good-bye to her mother isn’t pointless.” “Her mother is already gone. How can seeing her as she is now be anything but a terrible memory she’ll never be able to erase? Better to remember her as she was.”

  “Are you saying Jax can’t take me to Russia?” Sasha asked, still unable to look at them.

  “I’m saying it’s a foolish risk. You have to follow every order, do exactly as we tell you. Knowing what you do of the lost, you understand they have no capacity to feel anything for another human being except rage and hate. Your mother’s love is gone; in its place is only her ambition to become something more to Eryx than another collected soul.”

  She knew it was true, but she also knew it would haunt her until the end of time if she didn’t have the chance to ask, Why? This wasn’t good-bye. This was all about an answer.

  She lifted her head finally and looked at Jax. His expression was blank, so she couldn’t tell if he was mad, glad, or anything in between.

  He squeezed her shoulder. “Let’s get dressed and do this.”

  ---

  The decision was made for Sasha to meet her mother at the Cathedral of Peter and Paul, where the tsars were buried. If her mom thought it was weird when Sasha e-mailed and asked to meet her there, she didn’t let on. All attempts to pretend everything was normal were gone. She wrote back a terse, I’ll be there, and that was it.