My mind was tired and wired at the same time.
“I know we just got here, but do you wanna get out of the city? I could use some of nature’s good old energy flowing through me. I’m sure you could too.” Asher sounded how I felt: drained and in need of a cleanse of the city and the pain living in it.
As we drove to the bridge to get off Seahill Island, we saw clumps of people standing with signs in their hands, protesting.
“Freaks, get out of our city.”
“No freaks in our schools.”
“Freak = Abomination”
I sighed, seeing the signs and the hate on those people’s faces. My city was being torn apart.
History showed what would happen in times like these.
This hate would create hate. People who have hidden their powers would feel unsafe, and if threatened, would become the threat people believed them to be.
I’d learned a long time ago that love and kindness went much further than fear to those who are hurting and have pain that doesn’t show on the outside.
There weren’t many that helped me after my parents died. I was tough, and I didn’t think I needed it, but there were few that kept being nice, no matter how much I pushed them away. A smile in the morning to someone in emotional pain goes a long way.
My eyes flicked over to Asher, who was focused on driving us out of the city.
I was still trying to push him away mentally. I knew it, and he knew it. But he wasn’t going to give up on me. I could feel it deep in my bones that Asher would fight for me, even if I had given up.
He deserved a true chance from me.
And I deserved the kind of love he was offering, right?
I swallowed a deep breath of air, and then released my thoughts.
“It’s going to be hard. My parents’ murder changed me in ways I’m not sure how to even come back from. But I believe in change, and I want to try with you. Truly try.”
I had to believe in change.
Not just for myself, that I wouldn’t be a miserable bitch anymore, but that I could be friends with people and maybe even enjoy their company.
That the people of Seahill could come together and love each other, instead of divide humanity.
If I could do better, people can do better, then the world would do better, and the better off everyone will be.
Asher looked over at me and grinned.
“Welcome to the light side, Echo. We’ve got kisses and cuddles to smother you with.”
I laughed.
He may be a tad ridiculous sometimes, but he didn’t hold back who he was, and he made me laugh more times than I could count in the past ten years.
We parked by the entrance to the national park and then went for a hike.
“I’m always more at peace in nature than in the city. But I can’t bring myself to give up Seahill,” Asher stated, and I found myself nodding to his words. I was the same way.
“Mind if I let myself be a little freer?” I asked nervously. Being in the wild as one of the wild was the most peaceful I could ever feel.
“Go for it; just don’t eat me.” He smirked, and I went off to undress myself behind a large tree.
“Any requests?” I called out to him, curious.
“Your favorite form,” he replied, and I couldn’t help but smile, knowing my favorite form was like reading my diary if I had one. The animal spirit inside everyone could tell you the most about the person, who they were as individuals. In modern culture, people laugh about spirit animals, but my people believed that every person had the spirit of an animal that made you who you were. Sometimes many, like a totem. But I still carried that belief.
Without much thought, I changed into my favorite form, interested to see Asher’s face when he took in the 360-pound grizzly bear.
I roared at him for kicks, to see if he would show fear, but there was none.
Just awe.
“I can see it,” was all he said before he started slowly walking down the trail, expecting me to join him.
“There’s not hunters around, right? I don’t have enough room in my apartment to nurse a big-ass bear back to health if you get hurt.”
I sniffed the air and couldn’t scent any human beyond him. I’d have known if there was another person out here with us.
We walked together down the trail in peace and quiet, enjoying each other’s company and being in nature. When we came to a stop by a bubbling stream, I decided to throw my inhibitions to the wind and enjoy myself. Bears could play as much as any animal could.
The water was cold, but I stepped in and splashed around. When I was in an animal form, I didn’t need to be civilized. I could just be free.
So, I splashed and tried to get Asher with the cold water, but he did some magic with his hands, and the water couldn’t touch him.
Cheater.
Chapter Twenty
Echo
We didn’t need words as we sat by the cold stream after playing with each other. It was just nice to be us.
I knew I’d be cold if I shifted, but I didn’t care. Strong feelings were running through my veins, and I needed to do something so badly that I felt like I would combust.
My body started to transform, and in seconds I was a naked woman sitting on a rock next to a man that had accepted all the sides of me he’d seen so far and hadn’t run away.
His eyes were on the babbling waters as they flowed, even though I could sense he was very aware of what was sitting next to him.
I scooted closer and raised my hands to his shaved jawline. His features were so sharp and precise, as if he was carved from stone.
His eyes met mine as I gently turned his face to mine.
Without another thought, I leaned in and married my lips to his.
It was slow at first, the need to feel each other connected warming up my soul.
Then the desire hit, that strange tingling that flowed from his body to mine, that feeling of pleasure than ran down my skin, making goose bumps rise.
When our mouths opened, and tongues met, a spark went straight to my heart, jumpstarting me into a frenzy of need.
His hands touched my skin all over, feeling every curve, every rise and fall of my labored breath.
I wanted him everywhere—over me, around me, inside me.
The need to touch—to connect—was driving me wild in a way I’d never known was possible.
His lips moved from my lips to my jaw and to my neck, his hands bringing me closer to his body. In a matter of seconds, I was straddling his lap, his strangled groan only fueling me more as my bare sex met with his jean-clad hard-on.
I felt like an animal in heat, and I couldn’t find the will to stop it. I didn’t even know if I wanted to stop it.
We were consenting adults and working on a relationship. Sex was a good idea, right? I was ready, wasn’t I?
As if he’d been reading my thoughts, Asher started to slow our frenzied movements.
When he pulled back to look into my eyes, I saw the answer to my questions. I wasn’t yet. There were still more layers to my self-preservation that we needed to remove before sex.
But the look on his face made one of those layers melt.
He would wait. He would be patient with me until I trusted him enough to give myself to him.
“I’m not a blushing virgin, you know.”
I did feel the need to throw that out there. I had sex once when I was a rebellious teenager, and it sucked. I was angry about my situation and thought that if I’d screw someone then I’d feel better. Turned out I felt worse, especially after I realized the boy I chose just wanted to add me to his list of chicks on the reservation he’d banged.
I did get a teeny bit of revenge, though. When he was at football practice, I turned into a big bear and made him pee his pants in front of everyone. I was satisfied after that.
Asher grinned. The warmth from that smile settled over me like a warm blanket, fresh out of the dryer.
“So you’re
saying I have to protect my virtue around you?” He wagged his eyebrows, and I laughed.
“What are you doing to me?” I asked, and he thought for a moment before hitting me with an answer that tattooed itself on my heart.
“I’m making you fall in love with me, one smile at a time.”
I didn’t even do it subconsciously this time.
I purred.
The chill in the air finally soaked into my skin, and I told him it was time to start heading back. I needed to eat again and sleep, plus putting clothes back on would be nice. He agreed, and once he stood and took a step away from me, I turned back into a bear. We walked back to the tree where I’d left my clothes, so I could change back and get dressed.
Dusk was falling above the city, and everything seemed calm. The protesters were gone, but the nightlife people weren’t out yet. The calm before the storm, in my world, where things like to go bump in the night.
Asher walked me to my car, and I knew he would have lingered with me longer, but his bar needed his attention, since there were actual people inside it tonight.
His goodbye kiss was sweet but full of promises of continuing what we’d started earlier.
The cherry on top of my lovely afternoon was my favorite parking spot being open.
“Fuck you, Kevin,” I said as I pulled in to park.
Once I was in my apartment, I grabbed one of the packets of beef jerky I had for snacks and ate quickly before jumping in the shower.
I was just settling into bed when my phone beeped.
Groaning, I rolled over and looked at the message that said I was needed at the Hero headquarters, and to bring the car.
Running on not a lot of sleep was something I was used to, so despite my longing for a full night’s rest, I got up and dressed myself in my usual wardrobe.
Lilith was standing in front of the restaurant waiting for me when I pulled up.
“Perfect timing. Let’s go! Follow that blue sedan!” Lilith was bundled up in torn skinny jeans, a thick sweater, and biker boots.
“Is the sedan a threat?” I started asking questions to get a sense of what the hell I was here for as I pulled off to follow the mystery sedan.
“Yes. A threat to the Hero Society. You’re a detective, so I knew you’d be perfect for this job, and I thought it would be a good bonding experience for us.” She smiled broadly while keeping her eye on the car ahead of us.
Bonding. It was something I knew I needed to do, if I was really attempting to make changes to my life.
“Okay, give me all the details about what’s happening here.”
“AJ is on a date! Mina has been taking over some of his work, so he’s had a bit of free time lately, and he met a girl! I told him he wasn’t allowed to date, and here he is, betraying me.” She scoffed dramatically, like it was the ultimate betrayal in her book. When we stopped at a red light I turned to look at her like she was a bag of crazy.
“We’re staking out AJ’s date?”
“Hell yeah, we are! Becoming besties usually is sealed over doing something mischievous together.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Echo
“One day when shit calms down in the city, Leon and I are going to take off on a boat for a week. Have a real honeymoon you know?” She bit into her burrito, then sipped some of her orange soda.
If I had to be subjected to spying on poor AJ at least I would get a meal out of it.
AJ and his date had decided to go to the roller rink, one that had black light skating until 2:00 a.m. They looked like they were having a fun time, and it kinda made me wish I had gotten to experience this type of fun dating when I was a teen.
“Hopefully things will calm down for you guys,” I commented and stuffed a loaded nacho chip in my mouth.
Lilith was strange, but after the first few awkward minutes in the car, I’d started to feel out her character. She was certifiably crazy, but she had a good heart. Spying on AJ was mostly an excuse to hang out with a friend. Rose was busy with Draco at the moment, so she couldn’t go out, but promised a girls’ night with us soon. A girls’ night. Never had one of those before.
“I know the feeling, too,” she muttered softly. Her smile wasn’t as big as it normally was.
“What feeling?” I asked, even though I’m pretty sure we both knew what feelings I was talking about.
“The hurt that comes from knowing you didn’t get those innocent teen years like everyone else. Your parents were murdered, and mine sold me to an asshole. We both grew up in ways we shouldn’t have. It sucks, but it’s over and done. Can’t move on to a better future if you’ve got a boot stuck in the past.”
The feelings were real. I’d done some background checks on the crew of the Hero Society. If I was going to work with them, I wanted to have a little knowledge of who they were. Lilith’s story was sort of known. Ezra Alistair was not a friend of Seahill P.D., and we’d always wanted to take him down but couldn’t. Everyone had heard about his little bird, the spy that could kill twenty men in the three minutes it took a song to finish, but in just that sentence I knew more about her than before.
She was like me, but she’d found her way to deal, and live life the way she wanted. She didn’t hide. If that made her crazy then what the hell, she owned it.
“Oh God, I can’t watch! I think he’s going in for the kiss,” she shrieked, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
AJ did go in for a kiss, and it lasted all of two seconds. A cute and sweet first kiss for a teenager.
“You don’t seem the type that minds personal questions, so I’m going to be straight.” I had no female friends since my parents died. So, I had no one to talk to about stuff, and if this was going to work, I needed to make it work.
“How did you push your issues out of the way to be intimate with Leon, especially given that his powers could hurt you?” I wanted more with Asher, but I was nervous about my powers. Changing into some animal randomly during sex would be awful. Plus, I had pushed away people for so long that it felt unnatural to be close. Earlier proved I wasn’t ready, and he knew it. But I wanted to be. For the first time in what seemed like forever, I wanted to let it all go and just enjoy.
“Leon would never hurt me. Maybe everything around us, sure. But I think you and I are both alike in that we know who’s evil, and we know who isn’t. You can just tell. Leon has always been something special in my eyes. I knew right away that he was meant for me. He wouldn’t hurt me, and he would treat me with care but not like a porcelain doll. There is nothing that hurts more than being treated like you’re damaged.”
She nailed those words on the head.
Everyone treated me like I was a sad little girl who lost her parents.
I did lose them, and it hurt. But I kept moving, became stronger getting and honoring their memory by trying to keep their fate from happening to others.
Asher never saw me as a pity case, even when I was just a cat. He saved me, and took care of me, but never poor-kittied me. He would tell me how strong I was, and that I could do it. That I would make it.
“If you’re willing to try for whatever guy you have deemed worthy, then, girl, get cracking, because he will be sure to rock your world.” Lilith grinned and then reached into her small purse.
“Change of subject for a minute then we can talk about sex all you want. Janie asked if I would give you this. She’s been adjusting nicely to her apartment and has even asked if she could cook for us. Turns out she has always wanted to dabble in culinary arts.” She pulled out a small drive and set it on the table in front of me.
“She’s been typing up the book that the guys who took her wanted. Thought it might help you figure out why they wanted her.”
More puzzles. I took the drive and shoved it in my pocket. I’d take a look at it later, see what was so important about it to be worth kidnapping and murder.
I took a deep breath as I thought about how much I had going on.
“I feel ya.” Lilith sighed too.
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“How’s everything going with the crew?” I’d heard about some assists with our P.D. that they did. Nothing major, just here-and-there help.
“Phillip is working like mad, but still holding on to that one future he deems is the best, no matter what shit we will go through until then. Mina and AJ are good, as you can see.” She spared a glance at AJ and his date playing in the arcade together.
“Rose is okay. She’s been having some issues with her powers lately. Emotion are high in the city, and it’s making her feel off. Charles is either working on tech stuff or working out, trying to strengthen his legs as much as he can. He went from being paralyzed to walking. Still don’t know who it did, but we are okay with that, given the benefits.”
Then she ate some food and seemed to get lost in thought.
“Leon and Draco are having the hardest time. Both want to protect their own, while protecting humanity, but don’t like being around a bunch of people. Recluses.” She shook her head.
I’d been close to a recluse for a while, but the P.D. kept me out and about among man every day.
“You doing okay with all the attention the Society is getting?” I asked. She had mentioned everyone except herself.
Her brown eyes looked at me, and I saw a woman who’d lived a hard life inside them.
“I’m good; it’s just hard seeing those you’ve come to care about hurting, even a little. But I’d rather still be in their lives and have those friendships than not. Ya know?”
I nodded, even though it was something I was still working on.
“Back to the fun topics. Tell me all about this magic man I keep hearing about.” Lilith threw some food in her mouth and waited for me to give her the lowdown on my crush.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Asher
“Come see us soon, Son,” Mom crooned on the phone.
“One day,” I told her, and I swore I could feel her eyes roll. We got off the phone on nice terms while I sat at my table enjoying a cup of tea.
Going home wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. I knew they just wanted me back so they could push a wife and babies on me.
Dusk (Hero Society Book 3) Page 8
