by Trina M. Lee
“Arrow, when did you start feeling something for me?”
He fell silent, picking at a piece of ice in his drink.
“Sorry, I just kind of wanted to know.”
He glanced around the room, his gaze settling on the reflection of us in the mirror. “I think it started the day you punched me in the face.” Arrow’s self-deprecating laugh was infectious. “But I knew for sure there was something there that day I saw you cry.”
The day Rowen broke up with me, making a spectacle of it for Dash’s benefit. I preferred the memory of punching Arrow in the face.
“You totally deserved that punch,” I replied with a grin.
“No argument here.”
I felt like I should offer him something more. An explanation or admission. But I still wasn’t entirely sure what that would be.
Arrow stirred a reaction in me. How deep that went I didn’t know. One thing was certain. It didn’t matter. We could never be together. It wouldn’t be right.
As if he read my mind, Arrow said, “Look, Spike, don’t feel like you owe me anything. My feelings are my problem. Not yours. I’m cool with being friends. Hanging out with you gives me a purpose, which is more than I had going for me before.”
I knew he wanted to make me feel better, but guilt reared its ugly head. “Friends is good. Thanks for having my back.”
“Anytime.” Arrow rose and checked himself in the mirror. Satisfied with his appearance, he pointed toward the stairs. “I gotta head down for sound check. Are you hanging around for a while?”
“Yeah, I’ll go down with you. Kind of hoping Koda shows his face so I can laugh in it.”
“Sounds good to me. You want to do that right here or…?” Pretending to have misheard me, he hit me with a playful grin. “Oh you said ‘with me.’ Right. Sorry. My bad.”
“Very funny.” I gave him a shove toward the stairs and laughed. Count on Arrow to lighten the mood with a filthy flirtation.
He paused at the top of the stairs. “Hey if you’re ever up for it, I won’t say no.”
“Take it easy, dude. You’re jumping the gun. It was just a kiss.” I winked, knowing we were dangerously close to crossing a line.
The grin faded from his face. Dead serious he said, “It was a hell of a kiss though.”
Yeah. It sure was.
“Better get moving, rockstar,” I said. “Your adoring fans await.”
He continued on but tossed back over his shoulder, “Oh yeah? Are you one of them?”
“Don’t count on me to feed your ego. You have groupies for that.” I sipped the last of my drink, wondering how I’d gotten to the bottom so fast.
“Yeah, but they’ve got nothing on you.” Although he teased, there was a sincerity in his tone that reminded me of his mouth on mine.
We reached the main floor, and the sound level increased substantially. Two hundred plus voices created a cacophony of noise. We parted ways at the stage where Rowen tuned his bass.
My pulse quickened when he lifted his head and that amber gaze found us. He looked from me to Arrow, and I could see the assumptions forming.
“Shit,” Arrow muttered.
“Break a leg,” I said before vacating into the crowd. I’d like to think it was PMS that made me want to cry so suddenly.
My self-pitying moment of emotion was short lived. As I made my way to the bar where Jett waited with Tash and Rubi, I sensed the presence of a demon up to no good. My ability to detect them had been enhanced as well. The jury was still out on whether that would prove to be a good thing.
Right away I could tell that it wasn’t Koda. I wondered how long it would be before he showed his face here. I figured it to be just a matter of time.
I joined the girls at the bar, scanning the crowd for the demon I felt. He didn’t seem to be in here. Must be outside.
“So how did that go? Better than the talk with Rowen I hope.” Jett handed me a shot of Baja Rosa. She’d found a way to make a tequila shot somewhat appealing.
“Yeah, I think so. Still weird though. But Arrow and me, I think we’re all good. Friends.” I shouted to be heard over the din of voices, wary of who might hear.
Jett clinked her shot glass against mine and tossed it back. “Would you kill me if I told you I think you’d make a better match with Arrow?”
“Sure would.”
“Well too late. I said it.” She shrugged and turned to loudly ask Rubi and Tash their opinion on the matter. “Don’t you think Arrow is better for Spike? He’s a drug-dealing jackass, but he’s man enough to let her take charge. As it should be.”
Both girls gave me sympathetic smiles. They knew how Jett could be. Loud and obnoxious, for a start.
Refusing to play this game of brother versus brother, I bailed out. “I’m going to check on some demon activity outside. I’ll be back.”
“Want some backup?” Her dark gaze strayed to Sam on stage, going through the motions of sound check.
“Nope. Gawk at your boy toy. I’m good.”
Although being hit with a few new abilities at once took a lot out of a girl, being able to sense demons now sure appeared to be one of the better ones. It meant they could no longer hide from me, lurking unseen as they did to the humans they taunted and tempted. It would give me an edge over Koda. I found relief in that.
Making my way through the parking lot to the back where it connected to the empty lot of the building next door, I found my demon: Brook. We’d had an encounter once. Somewhere in between a bottom feeder and a badass, he liked to cause the type of trouble that drove people to make foolish decisions of the self-destructive kind.
I found him behind a large pickup truck standing over a body. Alarm sang through me. Moving as quietly as my human feet would carry me, I approached him from behind. “Busy night?”
He spun around like I’d caught him with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar. His solid black gaze landed on me, and he sneered. “So it is true. You’ve leveled up. That’s why I didn’t feel you. Boy are you going to regret that when they come for you.”
I blinked a few times, processing what he’d just said. Not quite the diatribe I’d come to expect from demons. “What’s that supposed to mean?” Instead of playing word games, I decided to just ask. Demons loved to speak the truth if they believed it might hurt.
Brook was no different. Tilting his dark-haired head to one side, he studied me. “It means, thief, that now you’re a threat. A mortal shouldn’t be able to replicate immortal power. You’ll have both sides gunning for you.”
Not news. Not really. However, his retelling did leave me with gut-churning trepidation. “So I’ve heard. I guess we all have a job to do.” I shoved him aside, using a small burst of fire to do it. My fire burned hotter and harder now.
Keeping Brook in sight, I bent down to check out the passed-out form of a woman. I recognized her, the chick who paid Arrow for drugs with a blowjob in the bathroom. Shadiest fucking thing I’d ever heard. Her breath came in shallow bursts. Vomit stained the ground. A dirty needle lay beside her.
“Is this really the best thing you came up with for a Friday night?” Whipping my phone from my pocket, I pinned Brook with a vicious glare as I called 911.
“Of course not. My night is just getting started.” Affecting a bored expression, he leaned against the truck. “It might interest you to know that she got the stuff from your buddy there, Arrow.”
I worked hard to keep the dismay from showing on my face. Of course she did. “Then why are you here?”
Brook snickered, a sound that got under my skin in the worst way. “I’m not the supplier. Just the temptation.”
Anger had me drawing the Midnight Star with a loud shing.
Brook jumped back, out of reach. Raising a hand he held a roiling ball of dark energy. “We don’t have to do this. You walk away. I walk away.”
Rowen had said the very same thing to Brook when we’d had a confrontation with him inside The Spirit Room. Clever trick, a subtle wa
y to get inside my head, using Rowen’s words against me.
“Not gonna work, asshole.” I slashed at him with the sword, ready to deflect when he threw the energy ball.
Pent up emotion fueled my attack. Angry with myself, with Rowen and Arrow, not to mention the stupid fuck standing in front of me, I let it all out. A fireball struck Brook in the chest. Touching the feather always tied into the under-layers of my hair now, I followed it up with ice. Just to keep him on his toes.
He countered with a black mist that reeked of sulfur. Rather than wait for it to reach me, I surged forward and threw my fist into Brook’s face. The mist struck me, and I coughed and choked. Brook grabbed me by both shoulders and slammed me into the pickup truck, winding me further. I maintained my hold on the sword hilt, but due to his sudden closeness couldn’t get the right angle to use it.
“I can see why Koda likes you so much.” Brook laughed, a lecherous cackle right in my face.
Knowing I’d feel it like a son of a bitch later, I headbutted him just the way Cinder taught me. Gasping for breath, I threw fire in his face and swung the sword. The blade sank in between his ribs with a satisfying sucking sensation. “This is my place and these are my people. Stay the fuck away from us.”
Brook’s mouth opened, but no sound came out before he disappeared. Stupid asshole.
EPILOGUE
I leaned against the truck to wait for the ambulance. Exhilarated but feeling the effects of the fight, I sucked in slow, deep breaths. Since the ritual I certainly burned brighter and hotter. The resulting exhaustion and weakness sucked though.
Cinder promised I’d learn to balance the flow, to only use as much as the situation needed and reserve the big guns for the big fights. Being half human up against immortals was enough to make me feel vulnerable. Having more power wasn’t going to help if I burned myself out midway through a fight. He’d warned me that giving it everything I had would result in overload, and I’d likely collapse again.
After the ambulance took over the overdose situation, I rejoined my friends in time to catch Molly’s Chamber. They were already on stage, about halfway through their set. I found Jett crammed in amongst the crowd gathered near the stage.
“Everything ok outside?” she asked, leaning in to shout into my ear.
“Yeah. All good. I’ll fill you in later.”
I surveyed the people packed in around us. From mohawks to rainbow hair, leather and lace, both the ladies and the guys loved Molly’s Chamber. Hands raised in the air making the sign of the rock n’ roll devil horns, the music moved them all as one.
It was fucking beautiful.
Rowen’s head bobbed to the beat. His hands drifted over the bass strings as the melody poured from his fingertips. I watched him with melancholy awe. Although I knew it might take some time, I sincerely hoped he’d return to the light. Seeing as he’d only crossed to the dark to serve the light from the inside, it made sense. He belonged with the good guys.
I’d taken off his ring. Putting it away in my jewelry box hadn’t been without tears. Perhaps it wouldn’t stay there long. Rowen and I, we had some shit to work out. Individually and then maybe together.
But God how I missed him.
Fulfilling my need for vengeance on Dash hadn’t given me the peace I’d thought it would. What it had done, though, was prepare me to move forward as an enforcer. Kicking demon ass might come with challenges, but for the first time in pretty much ever, I felt ready to face them.
My gaze slid to Arrow who held everyone captivated. A natural on stage, he worked the crowd like he’d been born to perform. He moved from one side of the stage to the other, leaning down to wink at the ladies in the front. Coming as no surprise at all, a blonde right in front lifted her top to flash her breasts at him.
Jett and I exchanged an eye roll.
I hated that the girl outside had gotten her junk from him. It didn’t make him responsible for her bad choices, but still he’d played a role. It couldn’t continue. He couldn’t go on like this.
Baring teeth in a sexy snarl, Arrow sang about grinding against a stripper during a lap dance. It wouldn’t be a rock show without some purely sex-driven songs. Although I knew him to be capable of songs with more artistic integrity. Because he’d written that one about me.
In full-on, dramatic frontman fashion, Arrow threw himself down on the stage. Flat on his back, he hit the chorus hard, lying just out of reach of the women in front. Such a tease.
I wondered which one of them he’d take home tonight.
A headache began, pounding from one temple to the other. It had nothing to do with the loud music and everything to do with fighting Brook. As far as blowback goes, it could be worse. This might just be the beginning.
Stronger now, the power within me had a deeper reach than ever before. Even the wings at my back, a sometimes-physical manifestation of a symbolic feature, were starting to feel natural.
It would come at a price. I knew that. I just hoped I could pay it.
Having both angels and demons desire my death left me cold. Like the chill of the winter night lived inside me now. How could I not be afraid? Cinder promised to protect me, but he couldn’t be everywhere at once. We both knew there was only so much he could do.
Going forward I had to choose to be optimistic. We had a tour coming up this summer, still months away but an exciting opportunity on the horizon. Hopefully one of many. Touring with the guys would certainly make things interesting. Of course day-to-day life in this city was nothing short of exciting.
I watched Rowen and Arrow share the stage, vibing off one another. Despite the recent strain between them, they functioned like a well-oiled machine. Cinder hadn’t given up on the four of us operating as a team. Which meant putting our personal issues aside for the greater good.
We were all so young and new to this, but I was confident we could do it. Had to do it. And try as some of us might to deny it, we needed each other.
Cinder saw that right from the start. He knew what we all were still learning, that we were stronger together. As a team we could achieve victories we’d never secure alone.
Now if I could just stop feeling things for both brothers, we’d really have it made.
~~~~~
Spike’s story continues in Rebel Heart Book 4, How To Be Deadly.
~~~~~
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trina writes urban fantasy that is dark and gritty with a twist of romance and horror but which is ultimately about people in dark places discovering who they are and what they’re made of.
A lover of rock music, vampires and muscle cars, Trina is a dreamer who always secretly wanted to be a rockstar. She lives in Alberta, Canada with her bass player husband, fierce teenage daughter and three annoying but super cute cats.
Trina loves to hear from readers so don’t hesitate to drop her a line.
Website
TrinaMLee.net
Facebook
Facebook.com/AuthorTrinaMLee
Twitter
Twitter.com/TrinaMLee
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
EPILOGUE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Heart Book 3)
