Forever (Descendants of Ra: Book 4.5)

by Tmonique Stephens

  “Yeah, harmless.” Thomas nodded, his hands up in surrender. “Is that all she can do, grow bigger and attack?”

  Now was as good a time as any to show him. “Yeah, she has a few more tricks up her sleeve.” A single thought and Alexis’s height shortened by two inches, blonde hair crowned her head instead of the usual red. Add in smaller boobs and curvier hips, and she was a completely different woman. The woman Thomas met last night.

  “Holy shit. I hit on you!” He paced the length of the kitchen

  She smirked and sat back in her chair. “Yep. You macked on your baby sister. You perv.”

  His eyebrows lowered and that devilish twinkle she knew too well flashed in his eyes. “Oh, I will get you back for this. I soooo promise you.”

  Tirrika’s dual necks fanned and two sets of fangs dropped from her open jaws. No one threatened Alexis and lived. “He’s family, sweetie. No biting, okay?”

  Tirrika’s head weaved in aggression. She wouldn’t back down. “Now, you listen to me, you overgrown—”

  From the living room, Reign said some archaic words. Instantly, Tirrika slithered out of the kitchen and went to him. Thomas darted out of the way as the anu’Ra slithered past.

  “Does she belong to you, or him?”

  A gift from Reign’s mother, the matriarch of the pantheon, Alexis wasn’t quite sure how to answer the question. “She’s protective of both of us.”

  Hands braced against the table, he leaned forward and whispered. “So everything you told me is true,” Thomas stated in a toneless voice.

  “Yes.”

  “So what power do you have?”

  She had a quick debate with herself then said, “I can read emotions and sometimes minds through touch.”

  His eyes narrowed. She didn’t need to touch him to know the word bullshit had just stormed across his mind.

  “If you have this ability, how come I don’t? Sifting someone would’ve come in handy during an interrogation.”

  “It’s an XX thing, not XY. Passed from mother to daughter only. Sometimes it skips a generation as it did with Mom, but never to any males.” Privately, she wondered if that particular condition would change since Avery gained leadership of the Order as the new God of Chaos.

  “Figures,” Thomas grumbled.

  Time to change the subject. “How are George and James?”

  Thomas scrubbed a hand along the brownish stubble coating his jaw. “They’re great. Both got promotions. George is at the Pentagon. He tried to save my career. I told him don’t bother. I had enough of the service. James is stationed in Japan. They had another kid. His family seems good.”

  “How’s Daddy?” Alexis wanted the truth but would settle for a half-assed explanation. She hated the thought of her father suffering over her actions.

  “Pissed at most of his family. And before you ask, no. He doesn’t speak about you. Ever.”

  Now didn’t that tear a hole in her heart. Yet she expected no less. Retired Major General Martin Lever wasn’t into warm and fuzzy emotions. Shamed, Alexis hung her head. She wanted to know, and she didn’t. She’d disappointed him enough and couldn’t be a part of his life without destroying everything he’d built. Still, not knowing was killing her.

  Even though her mother hated her, and the feeling was mutual, she had to ask. “And Gloria?”

  Thomas shrugged, his favorite thing to do when he didn’t want to answer. “You never know with Mother. What you see is definitely not what you get.”

  Yep, that summed up Gloria. Outside, polished Northeast sophistication with enough charm to sway a politician from the opposite side to her way of thinking. Inside, her personal landscape was as barren as the moon.

  “She filed for divorce.”

  Alexis had heard and wasn’t surprised. Her mother had always envisioned herself as First Lady and fashioned herself after Nancy and Jackie. Having a fugitive daughter doused any chance of her father being elected dogcatcher, never mind POTUS.

  “She wants everything. The house, the cabin in Aspen, and the bungalow in Key West. She’s threatening to go to the press if Dad doesn’t give in. You know how they both value their image. “

  Still a bitch, her mother. In a way, her consistency was reassuring. If Gloria had suddenly become nice, Alexis would have to hire an exorcist. “When was the last time you spoke to them?”

  “Father, a month ago. Mother...I’m living with her, though she’s never there.”

  The news snapped her head up. “She allowed you to return home?”

  “Yeah, one of her cardinal rules and she broke it.” Thomas eyed the back door again. “I’m gonna get going. Now that I know where to find you, I’ll stop by for some coffee. Don’t worry about me snitching. If I can keep the government’s secrets, I can keep yours.”

  Alexis smiled even though the backs of her eyes burned from unshed tears. “Thanks. Not that the police could contain either of us, but I’d appreciate no extra attention drawn to the Nicolis family.”

  “You say that like you belong with them.” He frowned and tapped the table impatiently.

  Maybe she did belong with the Nicolises. Even without Reign as the common denominator, every member of the family had welcomed her, made her feel like she was wanted, when most her family had never even tried. “They’re good people. You’d like them.”

  “Yeah? Well, you can like them more than enough for the both of us.” He made for the back door and Alexis followed.

  She wanted to hug him but didn’t know how. Everything had changed. She wasn’t the kid sister trying to escape the long shadow of the Lever name and her mother’s oppressive presence, and Thomas was no longer the brother she idolized.

  “Drop by for coffee anytime. Though calling first would be advisable and using the back door.” She wrote her phone number on a paper napkin and passed it to him.

  He stuffed the napkin in his pocket and bounced on the balls of his feet. A stalling tactic of his she recognized and waited. “Meet me tomorrow for dinner.”

  Without hesitation, she nodded. “Sure. When? Where?”

  “Manhattan. Seven p.m. A friend owns a share in a restaurant in the West End. I’ll call you with the name and address.”

  “I’ll be there.” She hugged her brother and held on longer than a few seconds to hide the sudden tears stinging her eyes. Finally, she let go, though kept her head ducked as she cleared her throat and blinked hard. “Uhmm...your car is probably still at the game center.”

  “Oh, yeah.” Thomas scratched his head.

  “I will take him there.” Reign entered the kitchen. His six foot eight size shrank the room in a way she hadn’t previously noticed. Her brother’s six-foot frame added to the claustrophobia.

  Reign moved behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. He pulled her against his body and swept her hair to the side. His fingers traced her neck as he settled Tirrika around her throat, and planted a kiss on her nape before stepping away. The spot tingled from his caress, regardless of her annoyance at his possessive demonstration.

  “You don’t have to—” Thomas started.

  Reign crossed the space separating them. “It would not be wise for you to be seen leaving this home. So, I insist.”

  He grabbed Thomas’ shoulder, and they both disappeared.

  Chapter Four

  Reign peered over the edge of the rooftop and studied the vehicular and pedestrian traffic. Ten a.m. wasn’t the time of day to appear on a New York sidewalk. He had the choice of two alleys near Thomas’s car. He pointed to the nearest. “That alley would be best.”

  Doubled over, sucking air through his gaping mouth, Thomas hadn’t regained his equilibrium. Reign took Thomas’ arm, ignored his weak protest, and flashed them behind a dumpster in the alley next to the gaming center.

  Thomas vomited in the corner by stacks of compressed cardboard boxes ready for recycling. Reign quelled his disgust. Losing the woman you love to another man would leave any man in this dysfunctional state, includi
ng himself.

  Only after I’ve killed the bastard.

  The thought made him grim. What wouldn’t he do for Alexis?

  Nothing.

  There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her.

  “You don’t deserve her.”

  Lost in thought, Reign missed Thomas pulling himself together. Now, he stood in front of Reign, sweat dotting his brow, eyes red-rimmed, though focused. He swiped his sleeve across his mouth and Reign noticed the tremors in his hands had subsided. The man was sober enough to mean what he’d said.

  “My sister had a career. Respect. She had honor, a stellar reputation, and the pride of her family. She gave all that up to be with you. A fucking criminal.” Thomas pointed at Reign. “Another ten-fifteen years, she could’ve been the Captain of her own precinct. Maybe Chief of Detectives. All of that is piss in the wind because you came along and offered her a life of hiding. Never being who she really is.”

  Reign fisted his hands to keep them off Thomas’s throat. Her brother’s words hit too close to the doubt festering in Reign’s soul. He realized how much she’d given up to be with him and loved her unconditionally for her sacrifice. He’d do no less for her. That didn’t mean he needed reminding. “You know nothing—”

  “I know my sister. She’d finally found her niche, without the blessing of our parents, and she loved her job. You know how many of my friends, men I respect, wanted to get with her? I shot them down”—he pounded his chest—“because they weren’t good enough for Alexis. Weren’t man enough to handle my badass sister. Then you come along and stick a frying pan in her hand and strap a mattress to her back,” he snarled.

  Reign’s hand closed around Thomas’ neck and slammed him against the dingy brick wall. “You will never speak of her that way.”

  “It’s the truth.” Thomas wheezed and pried at Reign’s fingers. When that didn’t work, Thomas stabbed Reign’s hand with a switchblade he pulled from his pocket.

  “It. Is. Not.” Reign snatched his hand away. He didn’t get out of the way of a punch that snapped his head around. He fell into the side of the dumpster, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs. Thomas’s punch had unexpected strength. So did his knee when he rammed it into Reign’s ribs.

  Reign hooked Thomas’ knee, grabbed a fistful of his jacket, and tossed him into the corrugated boxes. Thomas kicked his way free of the debris and lunged. Reign ducked a punch to his jaw and turned into a wicked right cross that landed him on his ass.

  Thomas stepped back for another kick. Reign grabbed his foot, intending to throw him off balance. Thomas used the momentum to do a backflip and deliver a kick to Reign’s chin. Bell rung, he barely deflected a flurry of blows. Reign could’ve used his power, but truth be told, he enjoyed this man-to-man, hand-to-hand combat. It had been a while since he had a good brawl.

  However, this fight needed to end, before he forgot whom he fought. Reign lunged at Thomas, caught him around the waist, and flung him head first inside a dumpster. The sound of the metal lid banging shut echoed in the alley.

  “What’s going on back there?” A cop blocked the entrance to the alley, his hand on the butt of his gun.

  Not what the situation needed. “Nothing to see here, officer.” That’s what EJ had said at their last encounter with the police outside of a club in New Jersey.

  Thomas thumped on the inside of the dumpster and yelled, “Get me out of here.”

  The cop pulled his weapon. “Put your hands up,” he said to Reign, and then spoke into his radio clipped to his shoulder. “Officer needs assistance.” He gave the location.

  Wonderful. More officers to deal with when he wanted nothing more than to finish his discussion with Thomas. Leaving him here wasn’t an option, not because he was Alexis’s brother. Even though he couldn’t hurt the family, he still knew too much. And the family had enemies deadlier than the public authorities. Enemies, who—if necessary—would glean information about the Nicolises from Thomas’s marrow.

  Reign flipped the lid opened and hauled Thomas out. A moldy slice of tomato clung to his forehead and random French fries sprouted from his hair.

  “I said freeze, with your hands up!” The cop approached slowly.

  Reign didn’t freeze. He flashed both of them to the alley two buildings away. Thomas dry heaved but managed not to vomit again. Reign waited until he straightened from his hunched stance. He met Thomas’s eyes, eyes so similar to Alexis. “Stay away from the police, and Alexis.”

  Thomas brushed the food from his face and hair. “I’ll make sure to tell her you said that when I see her for dinner tomorrow night. The genie’s out of her bottle. Now that Alexis has seen me, do you really think she’s not gonna want to spend time with me? Her favorite brother? Her family? Be a dick and make her choose between the two of us.”

  A cold wedge of fury settled in Reign’s chest and spread to all his limbs. Given a choice, would Alexis choose him again? His heart said yes. His head had doubts.

  Reign changed his appearance to his usual brown-haired guy. His last words to Thomas before he strode from the alley: “Don’t make her choose, because I will not lose.”

  Chapter Five

  “Stella, may we speak?”

  Reign peered into the study at his twin and sister-in-law. The two were curled on the sofa, Roman with his laptop open and Stella nestled in the crook of his arm, her nose buried in a novel.

  Surprised, the novel dropped to her lap.

  “You want to speak to my wife?” Roman closed the laptop with a soft click. “Why?”

  Reign stepped inside the room and folded his arms over his chest. “That is between a brother by marriage and a sister by marriage.” He really didn’t want to share his ineptitude with his twin.

  “In other words—none of your business.” Stella tossed the book onto the coffee table. They both rose.

  “Is everything okay?” Roman asked and sent a probing inquiry to Reign’s mind through the link they shared.

  So be it. Reign gave a silent groan. “I need your lovely spouse’s opinion...and assistance.”

  Stella’s brows quirked. “What do you need my opinion on?”

  “Women.”

  Roman broke into raucous laughter. He doubled over and clutched his side.

  “Ignore him,” Stella said and waved Reign toward two wingback chairs bracketing the picture window. “Roman is leaving.”

  “Oh no, I’m not. This I have to hear.” He wiped a tear from his eye.

  Reign and Stella glared at him.

  “Fine. I’m going to order dinner. Any preferences?”

  “Sushi. Dragon Roll, please,” she said.

  Roman grimaced and conceded with a scowl. “Staying for dinner, Brother?”

  Though he might as well since Alexis did not invite him to join her for dinner with her brother. Reign shook his head and murmured, “Doubtful.”

  A subtle awareness brushed Reign’s mind through the link they shared. Roman probed for answers. Reign blocked the intrusion and glared at his twin, though not in anger. Roman was concerned. Reign would’ve done the same if he was the one happily married, witnessing his brother flounder, and possibly lose the woman he loved.

  Roman sighed and strolled from the room.

  Maybe I should have asked him. He is the one more experienced with women and enjoying marital bliss. That has to mean something.

  “So, do you want the abridged or the unabridged version of What Women Want?” Stella’s voice cut through his mental malaise.

  Suddenly weary, Reign sat back in the chair. He stretched his legs out and let his head fall back. Stella’s airy laughter filled the space between them. This was not going to be a quick conversation.

  “Instead of What Women Want, let’s concentrate on what Alexis wants.”

  “That’s better than me figuring out half the damn population,” he grumbled and focused on the intricate floral design on the ceiling.

  “What do you think she wants?”

  “If I
had any idea, I would not be sitting here, begging you for assistance.”

  “Okay. What do you want? We’ll start there.”

  Easy answer. “I want her.”

  “Why?”

  Now, he glared at Stella while she sat, all serene and composed. “It’s a valid question. Why do you want her?”

  “I love her,” he snapped.

  “That’s not enough.” Her finger swished back and forth.

  Anger rising, in a tight voice he snapped, “Explain how ‘that’s not enough’.”

  “‘All You Need Is Love’, is a really great song title by one of the best bands in the world, and it’s a complete lie. Love is a bed of broken glass. It is unpredictable. Unreliable. And selfish.”

  He didn’t like where this conversation was heading. “Are you telling me I don’t love Alexis enough?” Or worse, he shouldn’t love her?

  Stella reached out and squeezed his hand. “No. What I’m trying to say is, you need more than love to make it work. I love Roman, but I also respect him. I respect his moral code, his leadership. I also value his opinion. I need it. I like my husband and his company. He’s my best friend. True love encompasses all of those qualities and distinctions. It’s the glue that’ll hold your love for each together when bullshit tries to drive you apart.”

  Her words settled in his chest, and he nodded, accepting their truth. “I feel all of those things for Alexis...” But does she feel the same for me?

  Stella pointed at him. “I know what you’re thinking. I can see it on your face. I’ve known Alexis about nine months now, and while we are not besties, I see the way she looks at you and hear the love in her voice when she speaks of you.”

  A smile tugged on the corner of his lips, yet he still had doubts. “Even when I make her angry?”

  He didn’t realize his head had dropped until Stella cupped his chin and raised it. “Especially when you make her angry. I get the feeling you have a particular question you want to ask.”

  He sighed. “I have asked her to marry me several times. Her answer is always no. If she loves me, then why? Why does she refuse to bind our lives together?”