Love Beyond Flames

by Rebecca Royce

  His friend held out his hands in front of him. "Okay. I hear you. I want Loraine too. She's not in my head right now. I need to see she's okay. Go find Colin. He's got to be outside. I'll pull it together and get us where we need to go."

  "I'm here." Colin stumbled into the room. "Get us out of here, Gabe. I have to find Gia. She's there in the back of my mind but I can't link yet because of this screwed up lifetime. I've never been without her this long and now that I remember that I'm feeling like I'm going to explode. Hurry up, man. I need Eden to tell me where to go."

  Gabriel shook like he'd been jolted by electricity but when Colin and Zane placed their hand on his he zapped them through space. Zane wasn't surprised. There wasn't a lifetime when Gabe hadn't come through.

  He stumbled to the ground in the caves and took off running toward where he felt Raquel.

  "I'm here, baby."

  When she didn't answer, he clenched his jaw and ran faster. He rounded the corner and found her on the floor, Marina holding her body as she pointed her hands at some rats on the ground. Her flames barely erupted from her body and she collapsed as soon as she'd spread them, burning the rats.

  "What's going on?" Zane skidded in front of her and ripped Raquel from Marina's arms and into his own. She smelled like sweat. Her eyes rolled back for a second before she managed to hold his gaze.

  "Zombie rats. Every ten minutes for twenty-four hours. The others are unconscious. We can't let the rats through."

  "Okay." He pressed her head to his shoulder. That was way too much power for her to manage. Ten minutes in between? She could have died. "I've got it, baby. Sleep. As long as you need."

  Marina darted to her feet. "I've tried everything to give her a break. But we can't let the rats through and…"

  "Enough." He interrupted Marina. Whatever her reasons he was sure they were good ones. That didn't negate the fact that his woman was weaker than he'd ever seen her before. He directed his attention to the rats. "Listen up. Within a two mile area of here, any zombie rats, any rats that are already dead and being controlled by a demon should go ahead and spontaneously combust. Right now."

  The ones in the room exploded instantly and Marina shrieked at the sight. She turned to him. "Nifty trick. Nice to see you so in control."

  Leonardo slammed into the room. "Everyone okay in here?" His voice was rough. If Zane had to guess, their leader hadn't been up even a minute.

  "I've got to get Raquel set up to rest. You and I are going to talk after. A big one."

  Leonardo nodded. "Have you seen Alexa? I need to speak with her."

  "Leonardo." Zane twisted to see Alexa come through the door from across the room. She pointed her finger at her mate. Her eyes were huge and her too thin frame shook like she had trouble keeping her feet. "You did this."

  He held up his hands. "We need to talk. I know…I know that…"

  "This is your fault." She bent over while she yelled before she righted herself. "You left me to him. You let him do things to me. You promised me. Where were you? You left me there for so long."

  Leonardo shook his head. "I know that…"

  "No you don't know and you'll never know now.

  Want to know why? I stink of evil. It's infested me. I'm Alexa Lane. This doesn't happen to me. I'm evil and we're never getting it off me. So I hope you like losing, honey, because there's no way you win this battle without me. I've just become your biggest opponent. And when we're dead? I'm not going to be there waiting for you with forgiving arms. You did this. You destroyed us all." Her eyes met Zane's. "Tell sweet Raquel thanks for trying. It means something to me that she did. I won't forget it. The rest of you can rot in hell where I'll be the queen."

  "Now don't be dramatic." Leonardo held his hands out in front of him. "You and I both know that you aren't going hurt anyone. You're not capable of it."

  She rounded on Leonardo and Zane took a step back still holding Raquel. Alexa had been somewhat sad and pathetic up until now, but she'd quickly traded her lost cause persona for scary woman. This was the Alexa he'd always known before—minus the demon coating her cells.

  "I've hurt many, many people. There are people dead in this world. I have done all kinds of dirty deeds. Things that would make you shiver if you knew. No," she shouted. "You don't get to talk in my head. You never get to do that again. This is your fault. How could you leave me there? When Gabriel found Loraine why didn't you come for me? Why?"

  "I…" Leonardo looked at his feet for a moment before he held her gaze again. Yeah, Zane wouldn't want to be him in that moment. "I wasn't in the same position I am now. We'd just killed Veli. Things were a mess. I didn't have my memories that I only got back minutes ago at the same time you did. I didn't know who you were or if I could trust you. Then I travelled through space and I saw you with him and…"

  "Enough." Alexa whispered the last word but she might as well have shouted it because the room got so quiet Zane could hear crickets in the cave walls. Everyone waited. They all needed to see what would happen here. Nine times out of ten Leonardo and Alexa were in charge, they were powerful, and they got the job done. This was a bit like what Zane would imagine watching Mommy and Daddy have a rip-roaring argument would be like if he'd ever had a mother and father to watch in this lifetime. Right then, he couldn't remember if he'd ever had parents in other lives. Nothing existed but Alexa's hurt eyes and the shallowness of Leonardo's breathing.

  "I get it." Alexa nodded her head. "You were a coward and you left me there to be destroyed. I made poor decisions. I sided with the wrong player. I'll own that. But the demon ate away at me and you watched from your glorified perch, sweetheart." She spit the word sweetheart like it tasted badly. "That's on you. I'm done. I'll take my demon-drenched self and I'll watch from the sidelines. Good luck winning your war without me."

  Leonardo shot forward. "You can't do this, love. We share a soul. I can fix this. Give me a chance. I know you better than you do yourself. There's nothing you haven't been able to overcome. This will be the same."

  "No." She shook her head. "The one thing I've always had is surety in you. That's gone. You're a stranger and I don't even know if I have a soul to share anymore."

  Alexa looked at the floor seconds before she blinked out of the room. Leo gasped, spinning around. "Where did she go? She doesn't have that power. She can't do that. Where did she go?"

  Marina gripped his arm. "Who knows what she can do with so much darkness in her blood."

  "I can't feel her Rina." Their leader sank to the floor and gripped his head. "She's not there. She's always been there. How is that possible? Even when I didn't know it in this lifetime, this screwed up space, she was there."

  Zane carried Raquel from the room nodding at Gabriel when he did. Gabe scooted around him and went toward Leonardo and Marina.

  Things had gone from very bad to much, much worse.

  *****

  Raquel was engulfed in flames. She tried to run but couldn't get away from them. This was not fire of her making and it scorched her skin. She screamed and ran in circles but nothing helped. She was going to die.

  Suddenly, people appeared. Or figures. They didn't quite look like humans—they were something else. They had wider foreheads and bigger eyes. They were shouting at her but it sounded like chanting.

  Raquel couldn't for the life of her understand what they said.

  They were all speaking at once and the words they sung at her were jumbled. She stepped back and would have fallen if a grey haired older woman in the group didn't grab her. The flames were getting bigger and the heat made it nearly impossible to breathe.

  "This is the end. The final battle." The woman spoke so close to Raquel's ears she could finally make out the words. "The stage is set. This is coming. Do you understand? We can't prevent it. With Alexa gone, all hope is lost."

  "No." She grabbed the woman's arms. "Please. There has to be something we can do. I was making headway with her. It's not too late. It's…"

  Raquel
sat up in bed, panting and flailing. Strong arms engulfed her and she could breathe again. Zane was there. She closed her eyes pressing her forehead to his shoulder. It was just a dream, wasn't it? A nightmare brought on by too much exertion. It had to be. They couldn't be losing in their final fight. And besides, the last battle would never come with Sebastian—the son. They'd have to take on the father. If nothing else was clear, that much was.

  "You're okay." Zane kissed the top of her head and her cheek. "You scared me but you're going to be okay. Water?"

  At her nod, he pressed a water bottle to her lips and she drank deeply. "Thank you."

  "You're welcome." He leaned forehead until he could capture her lips. "I'm so glad you're awake. Jason said you'd make it but still with some much chaos, I got nervous."

  "The mighty Zane nervous?" She reached out to stroke his chin. "Come on now. Not possible."

  "You of all people know that's not true."

  He hid his fear from everyone but her. "How far back did your memories go?"

  "I can see the choice. Before that, I don't remember,

  not past the decision to be one of the nine couples."

  "Wow." The ancestors hadn't gifted her with memory that went as far. She could barely remember the choice. Like a butterfly she couldn't catch… "Were we high or drunk?"

  He laughed, which was a good sign. If Zane could laugh than they weren't in dire straits, at least not yet. Her love lost his sense of humor very quickly. He didn't find amusement in crisis. "What's been going on since I passed out?"

  "How did you manage it? How did you kill so many of the zombie rats without dying?"

  "I…" She took his hands in hers. "I had no other choice and I knew eventually you'd come and then I could take a trip to recharge in la-la land. But, it wasn't that restful. I had weird dreams, disturbing images."

  Zane narrowed his eyes at her. "I appreciate your faith in me. I'll always come. Unless I'm dead and waiting for you. Tell me more about your weird dreams. I tried to doze to meet you in the garden but you weren't there."

  "I don't usually dream at all when I'm out like that. But, I was surrounded by odd looking people. They weren't quite right, or at least not human. There were flames everywhere and they told me this was the last round. The final battle. And that we were going to lose because of Alexa." She shook her head. The memory of the bad dream was as disturbing as the dream itself. "Thank goodness I know I made progress with her or I'd be worried."

  She stopped speaking. "Why do you have that pained look on your face?" Zane's features had gone from relaxed to tense almost instantly when she'd said Alexa's name. "What happened while I was out?"

  "She and Leonardo had the argument they've needed to have. With her memories back she went from confused to crazed. Although, I have to say I kind of agree with her on a lot of fronts. Then she left. Used a power she shouldn't have and popped out of here." He stood. "Can you get up? They're waiting on us to have a meeting about the zombie problem outside."

  She hissed in her breath. "I don't think I can burn again so fast."

  "You aren't going to have to. We're working out other measures. That's what the meeting is about and also so can we can touch base now that we all really know each other again."

  Raquel rose onto shaky legs. After a faulty step, Zane pulled her against him.

  "Thanks. Walking is a problem."

  "We'll take it slow. There's nothing happening that requires us to hurry."

  Zane always knew the perfect thing to say. "All these years. All the time we've spent with all of these people, they feel like family to me, yet I don't really know what to say to them most of the time. What are the words to say to Leonardo? What should I have done with Alexa that could have helped this?"

  "You aren't responsible for saying anything to anyone. I don't care how many lifetimes we know them. Leonardo has to fix this with Alexa, if he can." He stopped moving. "Do you think the dream was more than a dream? Do you think it was the ancestors telling you the unfortunate news?"

  "I really hope not." But now that she knew that Alexa had fled then it was more and more possible. "I'm not anxious to fight again. Although to do so is preferable to the alternative. If we lose, the demons come out ahead. I can't…I mean this whole time can't have been for nothing."

  He picked her up in his arms and walked with her until he pressed her against the wall with his body holding her up against it. Raquel took a deep breath. Zane was power personified. He always had been and she breathed easy when he was at his strongest.

  "We've worked harder and longer than I ever could have imagined when we signed up for this. I would do it again, by the way, for the same reasons we did the first time, which were to make a difference and to ensure that we never had to be separated again. I'm not going to lie. I'm drinking the bitter pill about what they did to us this time. We were not together and that's not okay. That was part of the deal."

  She breathed in him. "Was it?"

  "It's why we said yes." He kissed her on her lips. "And I've only gotten to have sex with you once since I got you back. We have years to make up for."

  Her body tingled. "How long can we make them wait?"

  "They don't have to know you're awake yet." She giggled when he carried her across the room in two strides and set her down on the bed. "I'm doing all the work, sweetheart. You're weak, let me ravish you."

  She felt stronger already but she wasn't going to complain if he wanted to be so charming. "Go for it, big guy."

  He smiled with a wolfish grin before he kissed her neck and made his way down, undoing the buttons on her shirt as he went. "I'm going to have you naked and beneath me and you're going to call out yes, yes, yes before I'm done with you."

  "Oh, the things you say." She ran her hands down the slope of his nose. "You are so handsome."

  "Keep going, baby. You'll give me a big head."

  She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations as he slowly undressed her. Zane was always in a hurry, it was so nice to see him slowed down. There was never any time for them to just be.

  They had no choice but to steal moments where they could find them.

  His tongue caressed his way down her body as each piece of clothing was removed. "You taste so sweet and your skin is like silk."

  She opened her lids. Her hot as hades soul mate made quite the picture worshiping her body and watching him only increased her own pleasure.

  "Come over here." She sat up tugging him toward her. "I can't lie here and do nothing. Not when your cock is hard and poking out of your pants."

  He grinned. "Wanna play with it?"

  "In a word, yes."

  She gripped him through his pants before leaning forward so she could undo his zipper with her tongue. Zane hissed in his breath. "Damn, woman, you're going to kill me."

  "Maybe. But you'll die a happy man being pleasured by his woman."

  With his zipper down, she tugged down his pants

  and followed with his boxers. For such a hard man, he had the softest skin. She smiled, looking up at him. "You know what I'm going to do, don't you?"

  His voice was rough when he answered. "I hope I do."

  "Zane, I've loved you for lifetimes and I'm going to adore you every day until the universe ends. And I will never, ever be able to get enough of this." She took him in her mouth.

  Chapter Eight

  Zane leaned back on the couch. No one in the room spoke and he adjusted his pants. He was sore—the best kind of pain considering how he'd gotten uncomfortable. Raquel had used her teeth. He grinned at the memory.

  Leonardo stood, staring at the bookshelf as though he'd never seen it before. They were all waiting on him to talk first. Or at least Zane was. He could only guess what kept the rest of them quiet.

  "I've done a lot of bad things." Leonardo sighed, finally turning around. "I can't feel Alexa right now. Not having her in my head didn't bother me this morning when I woke up, but knowing how we lived in our past lives, it's now like
a big gaping hole. That being said, it's my problem to deal with and handle it I will and in the not too distant future, too. So let's talk about the rest of us and the situation outside with the zombies."

  Zane interrupted. "Turns out I have a tendency to draw the zombies to me. Sorry about that everyone."

  Leonardo shrugged. "Zombies are par for the course. I'm not making light of it. I don't want anyone dying in an easy battle because, let's face it, we've had no easy battles this time."

  "I need to interrupt, too." Raquel sighed. "I've had a

  dream and I think it might be a frantic communication from the ancestors."

  Isabelle turned to her. "I don't remember you getting visions before."

  "New life, new issues."

  He rubbed at Raquel's elbow, caressing the skin. "Doesn't it feel like this time around our job is basically to be the bearer of bad news? Over and over again."

  She snorted which made everyone turn to her. He hid his smile. This wasn't the time or the place. Only, he couldn't help it that she made him so damn happy even when things had all gone to crap.

  "And the message would be what?" Leonardo crossed his arms in front of him. "What is their opinion this time? Because, by the moon, we certainly don't get enough of their fated crap on a regular basis or anything."

  Raquel stood. "Listen, I don't know about any of that. My life this time around has pretty much sucked. Hearing the ancestors? Having them with me? It's all that kept me going sometimes. But that being said, I'm not going to tell anyone how they should feel about anything. They wanted us to know this was the last battle. The very last round."

  "Shit." Leonardo grabbed a book off the shelf and hurled it at the wall. "Mother fucker."

  Zane rose. "Okay, man. Let's not break the books. I imagine some of those are really, really old."

  "Are you suddenly interested in history, Zane?" Kal laughed but he moved to stand next to him, which Zane appreciated. "Because I think Leonardo, even though we didn't realize it, probably picked his book carefully when he threw it. Chose the least important and hurled it at the wall, all in the amount of time it would take the rest of us to even digest that this is our last battle. Can I assume we're tied up and this is some kind of deciding factor? Because, I mean, if we're ten points ahead, I don't care if we lose this one other than it taking me away from Isabelle more than I want to be."