Heroines and Hellions: a Limited Edition Urban Fantasy Collection

by Margo Bond Collins

  She turned onto her back, avoiding his gaze. He propped his elbow, head on his palm, and turned to her. “Come on, you can tell me. After that, there isn’t much you can hide from me now.”

  Addison sighed, closing her eyes. “I’ve never had an orgasm before, okay? So … that was a new experience for me.”

  His lips twitched as he fought back a laugh; he didn’t want her to think he was making fun of her. He schooled his face into a calm expression as she opened her eyes and glanced over at him. “Addie, you shouldn’t be embarrassed. Those guys you used to date should be. What kind of jackass doesn’t know how to make a girl’s toes curl?”

  She grinned. “Oh, you curled more than my toes, mister.”

  Reaching across the space between them, he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Anyone who could be with you, and be so selfish not to give you pleasure, doesn’t know what he’s missing. I fully enjoyed exploring you … and I can’t wait to go back for more.”

  She laid her head against the blanket and curled up against him with a sigh. “Who knows when that’ll be? Tomorrow, it’s back to reality.”

  He wrapped his arm around her and held her close, laying his head beside hers. “Yes, well, a harsh reality is always easier to face when you don’t have to do it alone.”

  14

  Transformation

  When Jack returned to his bedroom, he found Addison sitting cross-legged on the bed, head bent over her journal. After coming back down from the roof, they’d taken turns in the shower.

  The house had gone quiet for the night, and they’d been lucky not to encounter anyone as they snuck back in. He didn’t need the drama of the third degree that would ensue if they got caught coming from the roof with wrinkled clothes and, in Addison’s case, messy hair. Sarah would want to know if it was serious, and if he was in love. Micah would make inappropriate jokes. His dad would lecture him about using protection—which he’d forgotten in a moment of stupidity. Reniel would have harangued him, too, but this time about not mixing his personal life with his job.

  He’d let Addison go first, waiting in the bedroom and trying not to picture her standing beneath the spray with suds running over her curves. That line of thought could only lead to him joining her, lifting her up, and pressing her against the tiles. Not something he wanted to do in his parents’ house. Filing that idea away for later, he’d waited his turn.

  The moment he’d left, Addison had produced her journal and started writing. Her pen moved over the pages in a frenzy, her bare legs crossed in front of her. She wore an oversized t-shirt and shorts, her feet bare. The messy bun on top of her head slouched toward her forehead, and a riot of loose strands stroked her face and neck. She looked so adorable and sexy that he wanted to jump on the bed, toss that notebook aside, and curl her toes a few more times before the night ended. Instead, he closed the door and settled for easing onto the edge of the bed and waiting for her to finish.

  He’d sat there for a few moments when he noticed the Guardian’s medallion resting next to her on the bed. Beside it, the block of gold. His gaze snapped up to her in surprise.

  “What’s this?” he asked, seeming to break her trance.

  She started, glancing up at him. “Oh, sorry, Jack. I didn’t hear you come in.”

  “You really do retreat to another world when you’re writing.”

  “I guess I do,” she replied with a sheepish smile.

  “What are you writing about?” A sly smile stretched across his face. “The different parts of your body that just got curled?”

  She reached over and slapped his knee, laughing. “Not even. Take a look. See for yourself.”

  She pushed the book across the bed toward him, and he picked it up, curiosity gripping him as he glanced down at the pages. Her handwriting looked a bit messy and frenzied, but he could read it just fine.

  * * *

  I’ve decided that I’m ready to be a Guardian. It’s time for me to accept who and what I am. That includes embracing both sides of me, not just the Naphil part. My mother is a Guardian, which means the blood flows in my veins. Maybe my life doesn’t have to just be about darkness and death. Maybe this is my chance to be something, to do something good … something good beyond just being the one to wear the Seal of Solomon. So, I’m doing it tonight. I’m terrified out of my mind, but I know that I don’t have to do this alone. I have Jack, and he’s already taught me a lot about what it means to be there for someone. And even though he pretends to hate me, I know I have Micah. This is the first time in my life I’ve ever had more than just myself to depend on. I didn’t realize until tonight how bad I wanted it. Now that it’s within my reach, I have more hope than ever that my past doesn’t have to be my future. Hell, it doesn’t even have to be my present.

  * * *

  He glanced up at her to find her smiling at him. “Are you sure you’re ready?” he asked. “Once you do this, there’s no going back.”

  She scooted closer to him on the bed, reached out, and slid her fingers between his. “I’m surer of this than anything I’ve ever done,” she answered. “I want to tell you something about myself, Jack. Something no one else knows about except my mom. Maybe then, you’ll understand why I want this so much.”

  Leaning back against the headboard, he nodded. “Okay, I’m listening.”

  She took a deep breath, running her hands through her hair and closing her eyes. She fell silent for a few seconds, with him content to leave her be. Whatever this could be, it was hard for her to talk about, and the fact that she wanted to share it with him meant a lot. She opened her eyes and began.

  “Of course, you know I never knew my father. My mother would never talk about him, and when I asked about him, she’d get so pissed. She’d yell at me and tell me I didn’t need to know anything about him. But my mom didn’t stay single. Before the drugs took their toll, she was pretty, but for some reason, she attracted the assholes. Drunks, druggies, womanizers, abusers … you name it. Like she had a target on her back.”

  “Nothing can be worse than getting knocked up by a demon,” he muttered with a shake of his head.”

  She shrugged. “Now that I know this, I think it’s why she always aimed so low. She didn’t think she was worth better. Anyway, most of the guys came and went like the door to our trailer was revolving. But there was this one guy named Buck … well, he stuck around so long, they finally up and got married.”

  His eyebrows shot up in surprise. He didn’t know Addison had a stepfather. “Well, where is he now?”

  She lowered her eyes. “Dead.”

  Something about her tone filled him with dread. Leaning toward her, he lowered his voice. “Dead, how?”

  When she glanced back up at him, her eyes were turbulent, her jaw clenched.

  “He would never just leave me alone,” she said, her hands shaking and her voice hoarse. She clenched them in her lap, but that didn’t stop the shaking. “He was always there, telling me I was nothing but trailer trash, my mom a whore. When he would slap her around and I’d try to stop him, he’d throw me across the room and tell me to mind my business unless I wanted some, too. At some point, I just stopped trying. If she wouldn’t fight back or speak up for herself, I was damned if I’d keep doing it.”

  His brow furrowed in sympathy. “No kid should have to go through that.”

  “Oh, it gets worse,” she retorted, shaking her head. “When I got older, he started noticing. By fifteen, I was filled out in all the right places and he wasn’t shy about telling me he liked what he saw. He’d make fun of me when I wore shorts or a skirt and tell me I looked like a streetwalker, but anytime my back turned, I could feel him watching me.” A violent shiver rocked her, as if the memory made her skin crawl. “I started spending more time away from home, because I was afraid of him. I was scared that one day, Mama wouldn’t be around and he’d try something.”

  Jack felt like his teeth were going to shatter from how hard his jaw had clenched. He found himself glad
this guy was dead. “What happened, Addie? What did he do to you?”

  “Nothing really, at first. Just little stuff. Like, he would brush up against me on purpose as an excuse to feel me up. You know, that trailer’s not very big, and he took full advantage of that. Then he got bolder, trying to touch me when no one was looking. I’d always push him away, and that made him angry. When he was angry, he would drink. When he was drunk, he was mean. He’d call me a slut and throw beer cans at me … full beer cans. Then he would tell me he knew I was giving it up to the boys at school, so he didn’t know why I acted like such a prude around him.”

  “And your mom allowed this?”

  “Mama was high all the time.”

  Her voice had a biting edge to it now, and behind her hardened exterior, he could see the young girl who had only wanted someone to stand up for her.

  “She never knew what was happening, and when she did, she didn’t care. ‘Don’t fight him, Addie’. That’s what she used to say. ‘It’s better if you don’t fight’.”

  He lowered his head, sure that rage would make him do something stupid—like take a trip back to New Orleans and back to that trailer. Elizabeth Monroe didn’t want to see him coming. “Please tell me … he didn’t …”

  She shook her head, blinking back tears. “He tried. One day, he came at me when he was drunk. I was in the kitchen washing dishes, and he came trying to get a handful. By then, I was seventeen, and I’d just had enough. I was counting the days until graduation and I was going to leave that trailer and not look back. I thought I could bide my time, keep avoiding him … but that night, I just snapped. I reached into the sink and pulled out a butcher knife. I turned it on him and swiped for his throat. When I missed, he grabbed my wrist and twisted it, making me drop the knife. Then he punched me in the face, almost knocking me out.”

  “Jesus.” He pressed a hand to his forehead, swallowing past the lump of raw anger threatening to choke him. He didn’t want to hear any more, but knew she had to get this out. She’d never told a soul, and it seemed clear the weight had become too much to bear.

  “He dragged me into the living room and threw me on the couch. He said he was tired of waiting for me to come to my senses, and he was going to get what he wanted whether I liked it or not. I tried to fight him, but he overpowered me and started tearing at my clothes. Well, by then, I’d pretty much mastered keeping my anger under control. I didn’t want to let the dark thoughts take over, and I didn’t want to do anything bad. That day, though, I didn’t care anymore. I let every dark thought I’d ever had run loose in my mind and I directed it all at him. Years’ worth of anger and pain, and I just released it in one wave like it was nothing. By the time the haze cleared from my eyes, he was gone.”

  “Gone? Not dead?”

  Addison laughed. “Oh, he was dead all right. By gone, I mean there was literally no body. He just kind of … exploded.”

  His jaw dropped and he felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. “You mean … as in …” He couldn’t even form words; he was so flabbergasted.

  She cringed. “Yeah, sorry if it’s kind of gory, but it’s what happened. It took me hours to collect the body parts that were left and mop up all the blood. It was everywhere, all over me. I didn’t think I’d ever come clean in the shower.”

  He shook his head in disbelief. “Wow … wow, Addison.”

  “Yeah,” she replied. “You should have seen my mom’s face when she came home and found me in the middle of cleanup. I never understood why she could’ve been so calm about it all. She helped me clean it up and burn what remained of him. After that, we never talked about it again, and she never had another boyfriend. I realize now, it’s because she knew I was a Naphil. She knew what I was capable of.”

  “Hey,” he said, reaching up to cup her face. “You are capable of good, too. What you did … you couldn’t help it. You didn’t know it would happen. And to be honest, I don’t think anyone will miss that asshole. He had it coming, and he deserved what he got. But what happened doesn’t define you. It isn’t who you are.”

  She smiled. “It has been for a long time,” she whispered. “I’ve let killing Buck define me for most of my adult life, but tonight, I want to change that. I don’t want to let it anymore. I want the inner light that you have, Jack. I want it because I know it’ll chase away the darkness in me. Maybe it’ll still be a little dark in there, but it won’t be able to rule me anymore. I can feel it.”

  He nodded. “I understand. If you want, I’ll stay with you, help you.”

  She lifted the medallion from the bed and held it up between them. “I’d like that. I need to know what to do with this.”

  He took the medallion from her and studied it. The cross was a match for the one on his chest, with a dove carrying an olive branch in its mouth and perched on one of the beams. The symbol had begun to lose its meaning for him over the years. Watching Addison make her transformation would bring it all back for him.

  “Take your shirt off,” he said.

  She laughed. “Can’t that wait until later? Geez, you horn dog.”

  He chuckled. “Not for that, woman. Just do it.”

  She did as he asked, and he sighed with relief to find she wore a bra. If she hadn’t been, he’d have proven himself to be the horny animal she’d accused him of being.

  “This is the hard part,” he said, dangling the medallion by its chain. “We call this taking the mark. This medallion is going to react with your DNA. When it touches your skin, it will recognize you as a Guardian and brand you. That’s how you’ll get the mark on your chest. It hurts, and not just because of the brand. Something inside of you will shift. Because you’re a Naphil, I have no way of knowing if it’ll be easier or not, but it’s necessary. The inner light has to take hold and fill you.”

  She lowered her head. “I’m ready.”

  He obliged her by looping the chain around her neck, allowing the pendant to rest just above her left breast. Then, he sat back and waited.

  It didn’t take long for the power of the medallion to take hold. Addison’s lips parted on a silent cry of pain as the gold began to glow, sizzling against her skin. Jack caught her when she pitched forward, writhing in pain. The inner light was filling her. Turning her so that her back rested against his chest, he put his arms around her and held on tight.

  “It’s okay,” he murmured, stroking her hair as she continued jerking and writhing against him, whimpering in pain. “It won’t be long. Just hang in there.”

  Her limbs bent and then straightened in spasms, her head lolling against his shoulder. He gave her a pillow at just the right moment. She buried her face in it as a loud scream tore from her. It seemed like hours passed before she stilled, her breath coming in ragged gasps. He glanced down at her to find that the chain had disintegrated, leaving only the smooth, black tattoo of the Guardian’s symbol on her chest. Addison gave him a weak smile.

  “That wasn’t so bad.”

  He snorted. “You don’t have to play tough for me. I remember taking the mark like it was yesterday. That shit burns.”

  She nodded. “Like fire in your veins. But it was worth it. I feel … I don’t know, different.”

  “That’s your light,” he answered. “The intensity you’re experiencing right now fades over time, but you’ll always be aware that it’s there. Eventually, I’ll teach you how to pull on it and use it. It’ll be interesting to see how it works with you being a Naphil.”

  “I feel like a really cool experiment. No one seems to know what to do with me,” she said, taking her time sitting up before reaching for the gold brick. “Now, explain what this is all about?”

  He smiled and took the block of gold from her. Turning it over in his hands, he caressed the markings running down the front with this thumb. “This is Hebrew for Phanuel. He’s an angel. Back before the war reached the boiling point, he was the angel whose job it was to dispatch demons back to hell. After a while, though, they multiplied, and of cou
rse, more and more of them started breaking the rules. It became a bit much for him to handle alone. So he went to God and asked for help. God gave him thousands of these gold bricks, which Phanuel blessed with his powers. It is what our weapons are made of, and allows us to send those bastards back to Hell where they belong.”

  Frowning, she took the brick from him. “So, how do you turn it into a gun?”

  He laughed. “Well, you can make it whatever you want. Micah made his into a set of knives. I chose a pistol because it’s what I saw my dad use growing up, and he was taking me to the range from the time I turned thirteen. Just hold it, close your eyes, and imagine the weapon of your choice. Careful, though. You get one shot and whatever weapon you choose, you’re stuck with it.”

  She did what he instructed, and after a few seconds, the gold brick in her hands began to morph and shift. When Addison opened her eyes, she held a small, .22 caliber pistol.

  “Nice,” he said, nodding his approval.

  She twirled the gun and held it up with a grin. “I added my own touch.”

  He laughed at what he found etched into the grip. Engraved in a swirling scrawl, he saw the shortened version of her name, ‘Addie’, surrounded by thorny vines and roses. “It’s perfect for you. Are you happy with it?”

  Dropping the weapon onto the bed, she launched herself at him, laughing out loud. She threw her arms around him and kissed him with relish.

  Jack fell back against the pillows, his arms coming up to embrace her. He welcomed her searching lips, opening to her and reveling in the moment of happiness. One of just a few times he’d ever seen her smile, and he liked it.

  When she pulled away, they were both breathless, her lips pink from the pressure of their kiss, eyes shining brightly.

  “Just now, I’m happy with everything,” she whispered.

  They arrived in Addis Ababa—the capital of Ethiopia—the following evening. After a long, fourteen-hour flight, Addison was exhausted, sore from sitting so long, and hungry. Everything had gone pretty well. They’d descended from Jack’s room that morning to find the kitchen already occupied by Micah and Sarah whipping up breakfast together. Addison had ignored Micah’s knowing look and volunteered to help Sarah make toast—the only food in the kitchen she could make without burning.