Forever (Descendants of Ra: Book 4.5)

by Tmonique Stephens

  But she was also a Lever. Daughter of Gloria Lever, the coldest woman in the Tristate area.

  “Mother—” The title landed with the finesse of a hammer striking a nail. Gloria’s eyebrows met her hairline. It had been a decade since Alexis had uttered the word. “—I can’t speak for Thomas, but I don’t care what you want or don’t want. I’ll see my brother whenever I choose and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”

  Gloria held up a single finger. “Careful, Daughter.”

  “Or what? What can you do to hurt me?” Alexis stroked her personal anu’Ra and wondered if she should share Tirrika’s origins with her mother.

  “I can go to the Order. As a descendant, I can file a formal grievance. The weight of the council—”

  Alexis’s cell rang. She ignored it.

  “The council is gone. Half retired, the rest are dead. Mrs. Kelly now leads the Order.” And she hates your fucking guts. Alexis didn’t need to add the rest. The animosity between the two women was legendary.

  Gloria stood. The mask of superiority had slipped, replaced with simmering fury. Alexis remained seated. “The police aren’t an option for you either. Not only can I change my appearance with a thought, but also Reign is a demi-god. And while I may not hurt you out of respect to the nine months I occupied your body, he would have no such sentiment.”

  Gloria swept past Alexis and headed toward the front door. She yanked the door open, stepped onto the porch, and pivoted. Alexis took her time crossing the living room; by the time she reached Gloria, she was blonde again.

  An unexpected smile twisted Gloria’s lips. No, it was too calculating to be a smile. She tipped her head to Alexis. “I did not come here expecting to be outmaneuvered, but that’s exactly what you’ve done. I never thought I would ever be proud of you, but I am. You just proved how much like me you truly are. Good show, Daughter.”

  Stunned, sickened, Alexis couldn’t move as Gloria grabbed her by the shoulder and pressed a kiss to each cheek. She caught a whiff of Chanel No. 5, the only perfume her mother ever wore and was transported back to all the times her mother had ever embraced her. The tally now stood at eight.

  Eight times, she could remember Gloria’s arms around her and that perfume. Each embrace didn’t signify an achievement, a milestone in her life. No. The only time her mother graced her with a touch had been because Alexis had done something to make Gloria happy; placed higher than last in a beauty contest, gained attention for something Gloria cared about.

  Gloria eased away, though she didn’t release Alexis. She studied her daughter, and it took all of Alexis’s willpower not to squirm.

  “Does he love you?” Gloria asked with surprising intensity, her fingers digging into Alexis’s shoulder. Worry swam in Gloria’s eyes. Her hand moved from Alexis’s shoulder to cup her daughter’s cheek.

  Alexis placed her hand on top of her mother’s and basked in the unexpected love. “Yes. He loves me.” She nodded.

  “Is he good to you?” she whispered.

  “Yes, Mom.” The word felt strange on her tongue. “He’s the best, most honorable man on the planet. And I love him. I don’t think I could ever love another man.”

  Gloria inhaled a slow breath and said, “Good. I would hate to think you gave up everything for someone who doesn’t know how much you’re worth. And how fortunate he is.”

  Warmth spread through her chest as Gloria stepped away. She smoothed her hair and adjusted her purse, collecting herself after the unexpected show of emotion.

  “Thank you, Mom, for coming tonight.”

  Gloria waved her away. “Really, you are the lucky one, dear. Not only is he handsome, but he’s rich, and he’s a demigod. If I were thirty years younger, I’d steal him right out of your bed. It would be child’s play.” She laughed.

  Like a callous deity, her mother giveth and taketh away. All the warmth in Alexis’s body evaporated, replaced by the ice she’d always felt in Gloria’s presence.

  A laugh tripped from her throat, gaining a raised eyebrow from Gloria. “My dear Gloria. Reign is over two thousand years old, and even if you were forty years younger with your original ass and tits...you’d still be too old for him.” She waved a finger in her mother’s face. “Don’t get it twisted, Gloria. It’s not your body that’s too old. It’s your putrid soul no amount of plastic surgery can hide.”

  She didn’t brace for the backlash, because she wanted it. Gloria’s smile was...well, glorious. So wide the corners of her eyes crinkled. She pointed to Alexis’s heart. “I knew there was some of me lurking in there.” And then she was gone.

  Vomit surged up Alexis’s throat, and she had to swallow it back down or spew it all over the carpet. Denial slammed against the inside of her skull, but the rebuttal died in the back of her throat. It was the truth, and God, she couldn’t hate Gloria any more than she did at this moment. Why? The answer was a brutal indictment of herself.

  Alexis had taken the first step in becoming the one thing she hated most.

  Her mother.

  Chapter Nine

  Reign exited the vortex and stepped out onto a rooftop. He moved to the edge and studied the street. Midnight and all was quiet. Located a block from downtown, the surrounding businesses had closed hours ago. This close to valuable real estate, the abandoned building beneath his feet was an anomaly. So said Quin. Another reason why he and EJ were here.

  Tension strung his body tight. Alexis hadn’t answered his call. After spending most of the evening preparing for their wedding, he wanted to see her. He considered flashing to her side to find out why but knew he’d only look like an ass. Obviously, she was having an enviable time with her brother since she couldn’t answer her damn phone.

  On his heels, his new best friend, EJ. Reign stepped to the edge and surveyed the shuttered building. A For Sale banner attached to the side of the building flapped in a stiff breeze. The last abandoned building in this sector of the city. New York City was so large, Quin mapped out sections to track their progress. His plan worked. So far, they had discovered two nests of quimaera. EJ used the Harvester to return the beasts to their human state. Only he could wield the gold jewel encrusted dagger—an anu’Ra—Daniel had used to enslave anyone unfortunate enough to cross his path. Otherwise, Reign would have left his chatty ass home.

  “I hope Jonas can get everything done in time,” EJ mumbled more to himself than Reign.

  “Your friend promised everything would be ready in five days. I will wait no longer to make Alexis my bride.”

  “Yeah, yeah. I’m sure he’ll come through. We’re gonna have a great wedding.”

  Reign’s gaze drilled into EJ. “We are not getting married.”

  “Ha!” EJ barked. “You’re not my type.” Then he sobered. “I just want everything to go perfect for you and Alexis.”

  The sincerity and worry in EJ’s voice surprised Reign, and a bond he never expected took root. “Thank you, Brother, for all of your help today. I could not have done what I needed to do without your assistance. Are you now having doubts about the preparations?”

  EJ shrugged and looked everywhere except at Reign, clearly unnerved by the praise. “Well, you know. I realize how important this is to you, and I don’t want to fuck it up.”

  Reign clapped EJ on the shoulder. “You have helped me. Without your guidance, I would not be on the path to marrying my love. You have not fucked up, brother.” A quick hug and a few hard pats on the back. “I understand it is customary to have a best man standing next to the groom. Roman will be my first choice; you will be my second. Will you stand with me, Brother?”

  “Yeah, yes...absolutely.”

  They embraced again.

  “There is one other person I need to make this complete: Mrs. Kelly.” Without the elder’s guidance, he and Alexis wouldn’t have survived or fallen in love. “Come, let us finish our night’s work, and return to our women.”

  Reign grabbed EJ by the shoulder and flashed to the ground floor of th
e building. They made their way to the basement, then subbasement. The space was empty yet held a familiar odor. EJ and Reign crossed to opposite walls. Each felt along the plaster wall, searching for an opening. Daniel was a crafty bastard.

  Reign’s fingers caught on a depression in the surface of the wall. A steady pull and the wall swung open with a low creak. A greenish glow illuminated the interior, and a scent wafted into the room. Fetid meat.

  “Jackpot!” EJ pulled out the Harvester.

  Reign led the way to the next side, the wall swinging partially closed after EJ stepped through. A pit lay in the center of the room. The glow came from the quimaera’s nest. Below them, at the bottom of the pit, in an iridescent green soup, lay dozens of quimaeras—Alamut’s former hybrid army.

  Reign’s cell phone rang. Hoping it was Alexis, he fished it out of his pocket. Roman. Disappointed, he swiped his finger and said, “What?”

  “You have a visitor.”

  “Who?” The only friends Reign had were related to him by blood and bonds as deep as blood.

  “Thomas Lever is here, waiting to speak to you,” Roman growled. His anger transmitted through the phone.

  Reign ended the call. “I must return to the townhouse.”

  “What’s happened?”

  “I have a visitor.”

  “You? But the only people you know are us.”

  Reign clapped a hand on EJ’s shoulder and, with a thought, they appeared in the marble foyer of the townhouse. Voices and laughter carried from the formal living room. Thomas lounged by the bar with Quin by his side and Roman serving him a drink.

  All gazes swung to Reign and the laughter died.

  “Brother, Thomas has been telling us about his time in the Seals. Non-classified tales.” Sarcasm dripped from Roman’s words. “I’ve been sharing a few stories of my own, all classified. Easy to do since you gave up the farm.” He finished with a wintry smile.

  Farm? Reign questioned along their private mental pathway.

  “You told him the family secret.” Roman’s features were now glacial.

  Reign mapped everyone’s position: Avery standing by the fireplace, EJ moving next to his brother. Quin behind the bar. The other two in their merry band, Thane, and Brayden, were absent. “Everyone here knows the family secret, Brother.”

  He zeroed in on Thomas. “Why are you here when you should be with Alexis? You met her for dinner, yes?”

  “We met. Had a great time. Until our parents showed up.”

  Dread crawled up Reign’s spine. “They did not show up. You invited your parents.”

  “They didn’t recognize her.” Thomas continued. “Sat across from her and didn’t know who she was. That’s what you’ve given my sister. Non-existence.”

  Three steps and Roman blocked Reign’s path.

  Thomas took off his jacket. “He wants to kick my ass for telling the truth. I’m ready for him. There’s no dumpster to throw me into now.”

  Reign shoved Roman, but he wouldn’t budge. “You don’t win favor with a woman by beating the shit out of her brother,” he whispered.

  “I was drunk before; tonight, I’m sober, and I’m kicking your demi-god ass,” Thomas taunted.

  Roman held tight to Reign’s jacket. “He’s baiting you.”

  Thomas cracked his knuckles. “I don’t care what you are, stay away from my sister.”

  Temper locked down, Reign signaled for Roman to release him.

  “Or else?” Quin asked and waved his hand for Thomas to continue.

  “There is no ‘or else’,” Thomas added.

  “Oh, there is always an ‘or else’.” EJ grabbed a beer out of the bar fridge.

  “I don’t need an ‘or else’,” Thomas smirked. “Not when Lexi spent some time tonight with those who can give her what she can’t have with you.”

  Rage mixed in Reign’s blood at the insinuation. He shoved Roman out of his way, stepped to Thomas, and loomed over him. “Where is she?”

  Thomas’s brow furrowed, as if in deep contemplation. “Probably home by now. You can call her, check up on her. See if I’m lying.”

  Before a thought had fully formed, Reign’s phone was in his hand. One swipe and he’d pulled up his very short contact list with her name with her picture attached. All he had to do was press his finger to the image. Better, all he had to do was flash to their home and find her there.

  I will not go down this path. He put his phone away.

  “I’ll call her for you.” Thomas grabbed his phone out of his pocket.

  “I do not need you to call my woman.”

  Thomas pushed off from the barstool. “You say that like you own her. She isn’t your property. She’s my sister, and I’m getting her out of this stew you dragged her into.”

  Quin smirked. “What are you going to do? Hide her in some underground bunker? Go off grid? Europe? What’s the game plan?”

  “Yeah. Tell us where you, with your limited skills and resources, can hide from the FBI? You do realize that’s who’s hunting for Reign and Alexis?” EJ mocked.

  “And without the anu’Ra around her neck and the power we have, she would be on a very long vacation in a prison cell,” Roman said.

  Thomas pointed an angry finger at Reign. “You placed her in danger and that’s unacceptable.”

  It was clear Thomas didn’t have a plan or a single idea of the stakes, and that’s what was unacceptable. Because Alexis’s freedom was on the line.

  “You think I placed her in jeopardy? Do you have any idea who Alexis is?”

  “She’s my sister.”

  “Who was a cop. Who battled quimaera and a goddess on her own turf.” Roman added before Reign could.

  “And she fought the bogeyman too. Dude, I admit I was drunk last night. And probably a bit high off some other shit I shouldn’t have taken. All of this mumbo jumbo, David Blain illusion bullshit with the snake in the kitchen and on the rooftop. All that shit was me sobering up and coming down off my high. Not proud of it, but it was a one-time thing. So you can stop feeding me the lie ‘cause I ain’t swallowing.”

  The room was silent as all waited for Reign to explode. Instead, he said four words. “Are you sober now?”

  “Stone cold sober,” Thomas snarled.

  Reign snatched Thomas by the throat, and they disappeared in the next blink of an eye.

  Chapter Ten

  Reign shoved Thomas away from him the second they appeared in the factory.

  Thomas stumbled, groaned, and clutched his head, but he didn’t vomit. “Where are we? Where did you take me?” Thomas fumbled around, but the man quickly got his bearings and stilled. “What’s that smell?”

  Reign walked over to the wall he had examined before the phone call. Too angry for finesse, he punched through the plaster and sheetrock, and then grabbed Thomas. By the time he cleared the rubble and stepped into the adjacent room, clutching his sword, EJ was at his rear.

  Reign marched up the pit and jerked to a halt. He released Thomas and called forth his sword. Eight quimaera were gone leaving four in the goop.

  “Where are the rest?” EJ said at Reign’s side.

  “Someone explain what the fuck I’m seeing,” Thomas said calmly.

  Reign expected a bit of hysteria, not the even toned battle readiness Thomas showed. “They are quimaera, shape-shifting beasts created by a former enemy.” He didn’t need to know the enemy was home-grown.

  Thomas dropped to his haunches and leaned in for a better look. “Former enemy? He’s your BFF now?”

  “No. He’s DOA. Feeding the fishes in the Hudson.” EJ volunteered.

  Thomas’ gaze settled on the black blade in Reign’s hand. “Did you make the kill?”

  “Nope. This wuss was handling the women. I did the slice and dice.” EJ patted himself on the chest and struck a cocky pose. Reign tried to hold onto his anger, but the man was too much the fool.

  “Shape-shifting, huh?” Thomas’ attention had returned to the pit. “From what
to what?”

  “They were humans. Picked because they were the lowest and most corrupt. Now they are part human, part crocodile, and part cobra.” EJ explained. “And eight of them are missing because we had to leave and take care of you.” EJ pivoted and faced Reign. “They couldn’t have hopped up and strolled away. Not without orders from this.” He waved the Harvester in Reign’s face.

  “So where are they?” Blue flames licked the edge of his sword.

  “I think we interrupted the kidnapping.” EJ sniffed the air. “Smell that?”

  Reign inhaled slowly and caught a trace of sulfur in the air. He’d caught the same scent months ago outside the club where they met Crogan and discovered the formation of the Divine Council. And why leave some and not take all?

  “Scaly body, barbed tail. These fuckers were here, in New York, and you guys kept it quiet?” Thomas said stunned.

  “Us, and your sister. We couldn’t have kept the public safe without her.” Reign said.

  “So what now? We kill them?” Thomas asked as if on board with that plan.

  “We? Now you are a part of the team?” Reign asked.

  Thomas’ gaze narrowed, and his spine snapped ramrod straight. He rose and stepped to Reign. “You said eight were missing. If it means killing them and protecting the city, hell yeah, I’m a part of the team.”

  “With what? Your bad temper?” EJ laughed.

  Thomas pulled a gun from the small of his back and a tactical knife from a side pocket.

  “Sweet blade. I have my own.” EJ waved the Harvester at him.

  A dry snort eased from Thomas. “That shit’s too pretty to do any real damage. This is a real knife for real killing.”

  “We are not killing them.” Reign stated.

  Thomas’ head jerked around to Reign. “Are you here to ask them to prom?”

  That had EJ doubled over and Reign wondering what the hell was a prom.

  “You are funny. You’re gonna fit right in.” EJ took a breath and clapped Thomas on the shoulder. “Pay attention. In this scenario, I’m the head cheese. I’m the queen on the chessboard...uhmm that didn’t sound as macho as it should, so forget the last thing I said. The point is, I’m the prom king, and you two are my bitch minions. Now, stand back.”