The smile on his face made him look twenty years younger and I smiled. I had missed my best friend. It was like something inside him had died when his friend had. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get him out of the funk he was in. Losing friends sucked. We all know death was coming, yet it tears us up when it takes our loved ones and friends. There really isn’t a way to prepare for it.
“I take it you took the opportunity to tell her how you feel about her?” I raised my eyebrows at him.
His smile fell and he glanced at his bed. Turning around, I saw Paris was asleep on his bed, but she was fully dressed. Her hair and makeup were still intact. I glanced at him and walked out of the room. He silently followed behind me.
Reaching the back door, I opened it and walked outside on the deck. There was a vast wood right behind this house. They were beautiful and dangerous. The combination was alluring and breathtaking. I sat down in the orange lounge chair.
“What happened?”
Dylan sat down the in the other chair. “I thought you were never going to leave. I almost snarled at you.”
“I didn’t realize you were going to use that moment to make your move.”
He rolled his eyes at me. “You were so focused on getting your hands on her blood, you didn’t notice when I cupped her breast.”
“We fought our hardest battle to date earlier today. I didn’t notice you did that because I was focused on our safety.”
I sat up. There hadn’t been time to tell him earlier, or after I had resurrected him from death, but I needed to say it now. “I wanted to thank you for what you did for Kyra and Cyrus today. You could have run and saved yourself, but you didn’t.”
“I’ll always protect Kyra and the kids with my life. You know that.” He snorted. “They’re as much my family as you are. I love them like I do you. You would do the same for me, if I had a family.”
“Do you want a family?”
Dylan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back. “I never thought I would get a chance. I was celibate, keeping myself far from temptations but now, he raked his hands through his hair. Earth is a place where we have been running rampant, doing whatever we wish. I still foolishly harbored thoughts that I will never touch the female flesh.”
I had noticed that he never made any attempts to talk to any females but assumed he would change his mind eventually.
“And now?”
“I like her, Trevor. I don’t want to. You care for someone and when you least expect it, they die on you.”
“I know you mourn your friend’s death, but death comes to us all. Are you going to stop being my friend? I’m probably going to be the first to die.”
I wasn’t pulling his leg. The DAO were coming for me, and the next time they would probably succeed. It would be stupid for me to think that I could live forever. One way or another, my time was running out. My past deeds had caught up with me and karma was waiting to swallow me up whole.
“There are changes since she gave me her blood. She kissed me, then she slit my throat. I dropped to the floor lying in my own pool of blood.”
I frowned. “What happened next?”
“She kissed me. The kind of kiss you can’t break away from, and when she lifted her head from mine, my skin had healed. One moment I was dying and the next she was kissing me, until I thought I’d rather die in her arms than live another second without her.”
“Dylan, you have it bad.”
“I told her that a future between her and I would never happen.”
I stood up. This life was simple, yet he was choosing to make it complicated. I was brave but even I knew not to issue that kind of challenge to a woman like Paris. “I doubt she appreciated your honesty.”
I opened the door and waited for Dylan to come in. It was freezing outside, and my body temperature had returned to normal. Whenever Kyra and I came together in our animalistic frenzy of love making, my body temperature skyrocketed, but once I cooled down my body temperature would return to normal.
“She told me that her future was in her hands and if she wanted me then she would have me.”
“What are you going to do?” Locking the door behind him, I made my way to his bedroom.
“I don’t think she’s interested in me, so I’ve decided I was worrying for nothing.”
Dylan was fooling himself. Paris was interested in him, now more so than ever. Women viewed it as a challenge when you tell them you don’t want to be serious. They set out to be the one to change your mind. It is the most absurd thing, but all women seemed to want what they can’t have.
“I need Paris to give Kyra her blood.”
Dylan nodded. “I will send her to your room.”
I walked back to my bedroom. I hoped Kyra was still asleep. I don’t plan on asking her anything. By the time she realizes what I have done it will be too late.
I might lose her, but I won’t allow her to die. Cyrus and Catalia will grow up with their mother. Fathers are important but not like mothers. I will be forced to leave my children, but I won’t allow Kyra to be taken from them too.
Closing my bedroom door, I walked over to Cyrus’s crib. Leaning over it, I watched his chest silently rise and fall. He slept so peacefully, just like his mother. I’m glad he didn’t snore like her. Cyrus turned over and opened his eyes. He raised his arms and I felt a power wrap around me. I blinked and my cheeks were in Cyrus’s hands. He sat up and placed a slobbery kiss on my cheek.
I picked him up. Cradling him in my arms, I placed kisses on his cheeks. I tickled his stomach, and he squealed with glee. Glancing toward the bed, I saw that Kyra had not woken. She must be much more tired than she usually was, since the slightest noise usually woke her.
“Cyrus, daddy loves you very much.”
Placing him back in the crib. I turned on the light show above him. The little stuffed animals danced around and around in an array of lights. He smiled and lifted his hands toward the swirling stuffed animals.
The footsteps were coming. Glancing back at Kyra, I walked out the bedroom. Paris was standing before me. She handed me three bags of blood. Taking them, I looked behind her to Dylan, then back at her.
“I guess, I was expecting you to give it to her differently.”
Paris’s face flooded with color. “She is with child, it could be dangerous for the baby and her if she was introduced to germs, or anything, I bank my blood for Warren, Jade and Celeste, and this is it. I will have to recuperate before I can give blood again.”
Until I know the full power of her blood, I don’t want anyone else to have that kind of power. I trust Dylan and Kyra but no one else. I can’t have her banking her own blood.
“It isn’t safe for you to bank your blood, so you will cease doing it. Immediately.”
Her lips thinned. “It is my blood, to do what I want with it.”
I nodded, “That is true, but my men want to take turns bleeding you dry. They think that by consuming your blood that will prevent them from dying a horrible death, at the hands of the DAO.”
She frowned. “You make it sound like death at the hands of the DAO is eminent.”
I didn’t answer. Unlike my men, I knew how this war would end. I knew my time was near. Some things were worse than death.
Dylan stepped forward. “I will kill any man that touches her, Trevor. I won’t allow it.”
She turned and looked at him. “This does not concern you. I am not your responsibility. Besides you don’t even want a future with me, so what difference does it make if your friends kill me or if the DAO do?”
Dylan walked to her, until his body was pressing her against the wall. “You are my responsibility,” he growled.
Opening my bedroom door, I left them out in the hall. Hopefully, they would do us all a favor and work that aggression out sexually, or they could kill some of our enemies that were hiding in the shadows, waiting to kill us.
Placing the blood on the counter, I searched through Cyrus’s stuff, finding the I
V we have for emergencies. Sanitizing my hands, I put on the gloves, and picked up the blood. After attaching it, I hid the blood on the side on the bed and sat next to Kyra. Her right arm was outstretched towards me. I was glad she had bulging veins, because I didn’t want to miss. I caressed her cheek.
“Kyra, you are dehydrated, and I can’t have you sick. We can’t afford for Cyrus to catch something from you. I’m going to give you some fluids through your vein,”
She woke up. “I’m not sick. My stomach is a bit rocky but that is just nervousness. I will drink more water in the morning.” She glanced toward the window, and noticed it was still dark outside.
“What time is it? Don’t worry I’m not sick. I’ll drink water later.” She tried to roll over, but I grabbed her arm and stuck the IV into her vein. Placing a piece of tape over the IV, I left her arm straight.
“I don’t like needles. I’m not sick. Take that out.” She sat up and grabbed my shirt with her other hand. Wrapping her fingers around the fabric she jerked me to her.
“Baby, you don’t want to wake Cyrus. I just put him back down.”
She looked at his crib. “I slept through him crying?” Her fingers loosened on my shirt and tears formed in her eyes.
I forgot how sensitive she is when she’s pregnant. I hate woman who weep, and it is rare I see Kyra weeping. I don’t like it.
“I can’t believe I slept through him crying. He could be dead right now. I would have been asleep.” She flopped back on the bed, landing hard, curling into a ball.
“You only slept hard because you knew I was right beside you. You are exhausted and dehydrated. It is my fault for not noticing sooner.” I tossed the covers aside and picked up her foot. Grabbing the shea butter, I warmed the butter up between my palms and started working the knots out of her heel.
She wiped her hand across her face. “It is not your body. I should know what is going on with my own body.”
Placing her foot under the cover, I grabbed the other foot and began massaging it. Her crying stopped and she started making soft sounds as I ran my palms up her calf. I looked at her athletic figure. Kyra was thicker than she used to be, after having the twins, but she had lost her belly fat. She hadn’t lost her breasts, wide hips or her thick butt. The faint stretch marks she had on her left side were covered with a colored tattoo of thorny roses wrapped around a demon. She was beautiful.
She leaned up and cupped my face. “Come to bed.”
I shook my head. “I want you to conserve your energy.”
She wrapped her legs around me and flipped me on my back. Her lips caressed my ear. “It wasn’t a request.”
I loved telling her no. She worked so hard to take it from me. It was in these moments that I fell in love with her all over again. Who could resist a woman who knew what she wanted and went after it?
I woke up an hour later. Kyra was snoring beside me. Sliding from the bed, I walked over and looked at the almost empty bag of blood. When I had woken up the first time, I had switched the empty bag out for the second bag of blood. I had watched her while she slept, looking for changes in her breathing, appearance, and any difference in my son’s heartbeat but there hadn’t been anything. Attaching the last bag of blood to her, I watched her for a few more minutes.
She was so exhausted she had not gotten up in the middle of the night or moved much at all. I might get lucky and she may never find out I gave her blood. Looking in on Cyrus, I made my way to the door, and crept out. All this exercise with Kyra had me dehydrated. I headed to the kitchen for some water and a few slices of watermelon. Kyra loved watermelon, and she had not eaten a snack tonight.
The house was quiet. I passed Dylan’s door, and paused. He didn’t snore but Paris did. I could hear her snoring softly inside his room. Reaching the kitchen, I opened the refrigerator. Grabbing the milk jug, I twisted the cap and drank the last of the milk.
“Hello, Trevor. Did you miss me?”
What the hell was Victoria doing here?
I slammed the door shut. A ball of energy hit me in the chest. Something wasn’t right. I swore as darkness came over me.
20
Cosima
A crack of thunder made me jump. The sky was packed with clumpy clouds that blocked out the light. It was late but not that late. I shouldn’t be preoccupied with thinking about Zarin and seeing him again, but my thoughts were consumed with him. Right now, I was about to jump from seeing my own shadow on the alley wall. This side of Lithia Springs looked like the normal ghetto you would see in any city. There were run down liquor stores on every corner and guns shops were plenty. It seemed like the rich just wanted the poor to kill themselves and save them the trouble.
My stomach felt funny. I’m not sure why the thought of seeing my boyfriend made me breathless, but it did. Maybe it was how I disappeared on him, without even so much as a goodbye. I knew I hurt him. It doesn’t matter that I didn’t have a choice. There was no sense in beating myself up over it, when I’m sure he was eagerly waiting to tear me a new one.
Scrunching my nose, the smell of urine and feces got stronger the deeper I walked into this alley. This was where I was supposed to meet Zarin.
Was he trying to tell me something by having me meet him here? I can’t be mad at him. I was wrong. I guess saving the world does not mean you get to save your relationship.
The aroma made me want to vomit. Covering my mouth with my sleeve, I caught a whiff, of perfume. I had smelled that classy fragrance before, and my eyes narrowed.
“Claire come out and stop hiding. I know you’ve been following me.”
She appeared. “Don’t look at me like that. This is my sister.”
Just when I think things can’t get worse, she does this. I can try to get her to go home but she isn’t a reasonable kind of girl.
“Zarin and I have things under control. You need to go back to the academy and wait for us. If you screw this up your sister could get injured or maybe killed.”
“I’m not going anywhere. Why should I trust you? This is my baby sister. If this was your sister, would you leave me and Maximus to get her and go home and wait?” Claire tossed her hair behind her neck.
No, I don’t trust many people and my sister is all I have left of family.
“I didn’t think so. Where is this Zarin anyway?”
Glancing at my watch, I frowned. “He is never late. He’ll be here.”
Zarin was always on time. I was getting a bad feeling.
I walked to the end of the alley. Across the street was Thornton Road. There were two strip malls along the side of the highway and on the corner was XJT Club Hustle. It wouldn’t’ve been hard to recognize because there were a million motorcycles parked in the parking lot. The rest of the motorcycles were parked along the street and in the back.
This place didn’t look like a place you wanted to be caught out alone in the dark. We were two females that were destined to stick out, dressed as we were. I had on a yoga pants combat boots and a blousy top, and Claire looked like she was going to a Miss Universe Pageant. She had glitter eye shadow on, for goodness sake.
Stepping back into the shadows, I turned to Claire. “We need to blend in, and we need to do it fast. Zarin is never late, if he doesn’t show up by the time, we get dressed I’m going in.”
Claire pulled her hair in a bun. “That’s the smartest thing you’ve done all day.” She snapped her fingers and her outfit changed to a dark brown leather jacket and matching leather pants. Her white tee shirt said, “If you don’t ride then you don’t ride me.”
My lips curled despite her getting on my nerves. “That shirt will definitely attract attention.”
She smiled. “I’m counting on it. We need to look like we belong which means we need them to hit on us and walk us right through the door.”
I frowned. “I was thinking of breaching the back and getting your sister and Zarin out of there. I don’t want to be slobbered on by some drunken biker head.”
Claire s
hrugged. “I’m beautiful so you can’t expect me to fade into the wall like wallpaper. I am noticed everywhere I go.” She snapped her fingers and my outfit changed.
Looking down at myself I frowned. I was wearing a navy green strapless jumpsuit. I didn’t know if my girls would remain covered if I had to fight. This outfit sucked.
“Give me the same outfit as yours, just in a different color.”
Claire shook her head. “It’s a pet peeve of mine, to have another female in the same place as me and wearing the same outfit.”
“This outfit isn’t practical if we need to fight.” I turned in a circle so she could take in the ridiculous outfit.
“I can fight in my outfit, but you might have trouble.” She smirked and walked out the shadows. She was walking toward the highway when I caught up with her.
“Claire, you suck.”
We went across the street. When we were in the parking lot of XJT Club Hustle, I turned to walk around the side of the building when a heavy hand snaked my butt.
“Hey sweet thing, where do you think you’re going?”
I turned around. “Nowhere since I see you, big stud. What’s your name?”
The man looked taller. He had a long red beard that was braided down the center of his chest. He had a black leather XJT Club jacket on, and a red helmet in his hand.
“My name is Jake, but I’ll answer to ‘stud’. I haven’t seen you around here.”
I saw Claire getting ready to walk through the front door, and I smiled. “My girlfriend, Claire, heard her man was over here cheating on her. That’s why she’s so eager to get in the front door.”
Claire was picked up, by another biker guy and carried over to me. She was placed on her feet, but the man had his hand wound around her waist. “Girlfriend, if you just let me get through the door, I could have seen for myself.”
Claire spoke through clenched teeth, and I almost smiled. She glared at the man holding her and pushed his hand off her.
“Bobby won’t let no man hurt you, will you Bobby?” said Jake.
The Pact Between Angels and Witches Page 15
