Dark Hearts

by P. L. Midnight

  “Why don’t you ask Alex? See if he’ll get you on Sunday before he picks me up. I’m sure he won’t mind and you could have alone time with him. After all, he did invite everyone.”

  “I’ll call him, as long as you’re certain that you aren’t interested. I might as well stake my claim, or at least let him know I’m interested before someone else gets their hooks into him. Maybe I could even get him to pick me up first tonight.”

  “Oh, I think he knows you’re interested, Tori. Now get going, so you can have plenty of time to get ready for tonight. You want to look amazing, don’t you? Thanks for the advice on tonight’s outfit. You’re the best. See you in a little while.”

  I thanked her, but couldn’t wait to get out of the short skirt. It just wasn’t comfortable for an evening of watching movies and hanging out. I’d be afraid my rear was showing if I even leaned over to reach the popcorn dish. Too bad, I couldn’t just wear comfortable sweats. However, I knew that wouldn’t be too impressive if I wanted Raven to ask me out on a date.

  Boys were a lot of trouble. However, having Raven’s arms around me and his sensuous soft lips covering mine in that perfect first kiss might be more than worth the trouble.

  Chapter Nine-The Guys

  “I had no idea she was so beautiful. The pictures I was sent didn’t do her justice. She’s cute and feisty, too. If I’d known this planet had girls like that, I might have visited sooner. This might be interesting after all,” Alex said.

  “Hands off, angel boy, she’s been my girlfriend for a long time. I’m not even allowed to touch her, so you sure as hell aren’t going to do so.”

  “Are you saying you’ve never touched that lovely creature, Vince? How fortunate that you could resist her charms. I’m not sure I could’ve had the same restraint.” Alex smirked at him as he spoke. “Actually, she didn’t act much like your girlfriend at lunch today. She seemed more interested in our friend Raven, which is something I hope to change.”

  “She and I had an understanding, or so I thought. We only kissed once. I respect her innocence. Now, however, I realize that she never considered me an actual boyfriend. I’m no longer able to kiss her because of this no touching policy, which Raven thinks we should have while protecting her. How do you think that makes me feel? I can’t even try to curry favor with her to prove I’m a real boyfriend.”

  “You wouldn’t have found out how she actually felt if you’d have kept that mind reading trick to yourself, like the rest of us do, which you’re supposed to be doing, too,” Raven interjected his thoughts into the conversation.

  “I can’t always control it. When I get emotional, it just happens sometimes. If she hadn’t kept making eyes at you during lunch I wouldn’t have got upset and read her mind,” Vince said in an almost cross tone.

  “I know what happened, Vince. The scenario went something like this. You saw how beautiful Emma is now. Your pretend girlfriend grew up over the summer into a beautiful swan. She was paying attention to me and you were insecure because you’d never made a move on her. Hell, you’ve been so occupied with science, I’m surprised you took time to take a shit. When you saw her look at me, you were instantly inside her mind, reading her every thought. She’d hate that, you know. Besides, she’d never have looked at me if you had staked your claim. I’m sorry, Vince, you’re one of my best friends, but she’s been crushing on me for a long time and you did nothing to stop it. I didn’t make a move on her. She looked at me first. I’ve known for a long time she was crushing on me. What was I supposed to do, ignore her, now that I don’t have Brittany as a shield?” Raven stated flatly.

  “Well, no, I guess I wouldn’t want you to be rude to her. I guess you’re right, she would hate me reading her mind, too, I suppose. She wasn’t a pretend girlfriend to me. I was and always will be crazy about her, even if she doesn’t look at me like she does you. It just seems strange that you’re just now paying attention to her after she changed her look.”

  “Don’t be an idiot. I’ve always liked Emma, but I knew you cared for her. She also wouldn’t even say hello to me. She’s kinda shy, I guess.” Raven sighed as he spoke to his old friend, “You also know I was on an assignment for my Dad to keep Brittany occupied, so I left Emma alone. I can’t help how she feels about me. On that first day of school when I saw her, well, I’m sorry, Vince. Her essence seemed to sing to me. I can’t explain it.”

  “I know, Raven. This is a mess,” Vince said in a begrudging tone.

  “Then why didn’t you do more than kiss her? You’ve know her for, what, over five years now? Maybe wendigos don’t get as horny as seraphim do. Maybe she was too ugly before this year for you to touch her,” Alex said in that smart-ass tone that he sometimes got when he was mocking someone.

  Alex trailed off as Vince glared at him.

  “For your information, she wasn’t ugly, I was horny, and I did want her, but I respected her, angel boy. Besides, she was too young. Something you obviously know nothing about. If either of you think about…” Vincent said in a voice which was his most threatening growl.

  They just didn’t understand, Vincent thought. He knew her better than either of them did. She’d been through so much already in her life. Losing her father as she did had taken its toll on her. She barely had any self-confidence after the only man in her life, her father, left her. Now that she was starting to feel good about herself, she didn’t need any oversexed, egotistical angel boy messing with her head or worse. Vince’s damn gargoyle best friend needed to watch himself, too, because she could really be hurt by him.

  Both Raven and Alex looked at Vincent with raised eyebrows as they lounged on the large gray sofa at Raven’s house. Raven was the first one to break the silence following Vince’s tirade. Raven was relaxed with his long sinewy legs draped over the couch in a tranquil stance. “It’s a good thing we’re like brothers, wendigo, or I’d take that as a threat. You know gargoyles don’t take kindly to threats, veiled or otherwise. As far as the lovely Miss Stephens goes, the objective is to infiltrate her life and become her friends so we can better protect her, not to have sex with her. Is that clear?”

  “Vince, I know you’re already good friends with her, as you’ve repeatedly reminded me. Our directive doesn’t say we get to have sex with her. Therefore, your petty jealousy has no place here. Barring any personal feelings, she’s to be an assignment, nothing more. You knew going into this that we might all struggle with our feelings towards her. She is special, as you’ve frequently said and we’ve already noticed.”

  “You’ve never had a desire to get close to her before, Raven, until she prettied herself up.”

  “That’s bullshit and you know it. Like I said, she turned away from me or disappeared whenever I tried to talk to her. Should I have pursued her, knowing my best friend had the hots for her?”

  “It’s more than the hots. She’s a smart girl, my Emma. With Brittany on your arm constantly, what was she to do, fall at your feet? She’s shy with guys because of her father’s desertion.”

  “As for Brittany, horseshit Vince, the only reason I dated that bitch was to give her father something else to investigate besides the Order. It was just a favor for my father and a damn long and difficult one at that.”

  Alex snickered, but made no comment as Raven and Vince continued to discuss the situation with unfriendly and at times almost raised voices.

  “I’m sure it was a pain in the ass. Everyone knows she’s the biggest bitch in school. No one could figure out why you even wanted to date her for that long. She’s nice to look at, but when you get to know her, it’s all over. A person can’t hide their true personality forever,” Vince chuckled and grinned at Raven. “Actually, I felt sorry for you, even if she was a good lay.”

  “Right, like I’d go there after half the football team has visited the site. I wouldn’t fuck her with your dick, Vince, and you can stop the snickering anytime, Alex.”

  “You mean you didn’t touch her the whole time you dated her?”


  “Why the hell do you care, Vince? Are you jealous or interested in her? You stay out of this, too, Alex, no snide remarks.”

  “Hell no, I’m not jealous. She makes even my icy blood run cold. Like I said, I felt sorry for you man, but I still don’t like you getting friendly with Emma.”

  “I really don’t want to talk about Brittany anymore. She makes me envy the gargoyles that turned to stone. They didn’t have to kiss her or anything else. Back to the subject of Emma, this could be a long assignment. Before it’s over we may all want to become more than just her protectors. I think I deserve to spend time with a genuinely nice girl for a change. I’m not going to hurt her and neither is Alex, regardless of what he says. Give me a break. I think Emma is old enough to choose her own friends, Vince.”

  “I wanted this assignment. I wanted to help protect Emma from Dark Hearts and angel boy with his raging fucking hormones. Anyway, I know her better than either of you do, as I said.”

  “Yes, we know, you’ve told us repeatedly. Hell, you’ve told us all about your precious Emma. I still don’t understand why you didn’t fuck her if you felt that strongly about her,” Alex interjected into the already heated discussion, raising tension in the room even more.

  “One more disrespectful remark about Emma from him, Raven, and I’m going to fucking put him in a deep freeze.”

  “Alex, you aren’t helping and you are being disrespectful. Watch the mouth.”

  “Sorry, Raven, I’ll stop. It’s just that Vince looks so cute when he gets pissed off. I’d forgotten how he turns that nice shade of blue,” Alex mocked.

  “That’s it angel boy, I’m going to turn you blue. See how you operate when your tongue and dick are frozen.” Vince raised his voice and turned his freezing glare on Alex. A strange blue beam just missed Alex as he quickly moved out of the way. Raven jumped from the couch and tackled his friend before he froze more than just a section of his couch.

  Alex’s hands went up from behind the couch in a gesture of surrender before he raised his head to speak. “I’m sorry, Vince. I didn’t mean to disrespect Emma or you. Sometimes I run off at the mouth too much. Are we still friends?”

  Raven moved off of Vince as Alex came around the couch and offered his hand to help them both up.

  “Yes, we’re friends, Alex, but you better watch your mouth about Emma. She’s not some slut that fucks around like some of the whores on the Sun.”

  “I know, maybe I’m just jealous that I never even had a pretend girlfriend. All we did was fight on the Sun. I don’t want to screw this up for the Order, either. Getting into that organization on a permanent basis is important to all three of us. I’ll do my best to protect Emma and be just her friend.”

  “Good, I expect all of us to do the same,” Raven stated.

  “As I was saying earlier, my personal knowledge of Emma will help us to be able to protect her more effectively, I hope. I can even sway her thinking about you Alex, if you promise to behave. You both talk as if you’re already more interested in Emma than you should be. You don’t even know her that well.”

  “That is a situation that I, for one, plan to remedy soon. I wouldn’t mind a little female distraction either, Raven. There’s something about her. She’s a pretty distraction, too,” Alex smugly said from across the room where he’d gone back to lounging on the couch, well, the part that wasn’t an icy mess.

  “She’s more than a fucking distraction. What will happen to her when you leave, Alex? I’ll always be closer to her than either of you,” Vince grumbled more to himself than anyone.

  “That remains to be seen. Nonetheless, her safety is the real issue,” Raven said emphatically.

  “I can’t even try to convince her I’m not that nerdy guy anymore. I can’t even kiss her to prove I’ve changed, unless you drop this “hands off” rule. She’s so damn sweet. All I can think about is kissing her.” He didn’t add ‘and dreaming about more’. He just seemed drawn to her lately, more than normal. It was strange, but rather nice. “I’m not sure I can do the “hands off” thing with this assignment. Anyway, we aren’t even official members of the Order. That’s your father’s deal. They may not even want us if we can’t stop fussing over our assignment.”

  Raven said in an almost annoyed voice, “you will do as you’re told regarding Emma, as will the rest of us, even if we aren’t in the Order yet. Vince, I believe there’s hope for you with Emma. I’m sure that Emma has noticed the change in your appearance. She’d have to be blind not to see how much bigger you’ve gotten. Your voice is even deeper. Give the girl some credit. Anyway, it might interest you to know that her heartbeat increases when she looks at you.” What Raven didn’t mention was that it increased when she looked at any of the three of them.

  Alex of course had to ask, “Does her heart beat faster when she’s around me?”

  “Actually, it does, which is surprising since you two don’t seem to get along very well, which is something that you need to remedy immediately, Alex. Stop antagonizing her at every turn.” Before Alex and Vince could comment, Raven spoke in his all business tone reminding them who was the boss, “Is this discussion really necessary? I think we’ve established that we all find Emma interesting and are looking forward to becoming better acquainted with her. It would seem that she seems to bring out the need to protect her in each of us. She also seems to bring out the need to become more than just friends. However, I don’t think, in the interest of her safety, that we should pursue her romantically at this time.”

  “So, do our instructions actually say “hands off” or is this something you’ve seen fit to add, Raven?”

  “Actually, Vince, it’s my opinion that we should remain platonic only friends with Emma, no matter how strong our feelings. You know that if we complete this assignment for my father we’ll be sworn into the Order. That is something we’ve all wanted for a long time. This is also a chance for you to leave the Sun permanently, which you seem to be tired of protecting, Alex.”

  “As members of the Order, we could be placed on an assignment on any number of planets. What will happen to Emma when we’ve left?”

  “Maybe she could go with us.”

  “I think I’d like that.”

  “I’m still not sure it makes any difference if I’m having sex with her or not. I’ll still protect her,” Alex stated flatly.

  “Well, it does to me, angel boy, and it would to Emma, when you up and leave to go on an assignment for the Order, Vince growled.

  “Cool off, Vince. I’m just saying that I’d be more inclined to better protect someone I was “sharing the sheets” with,” Alex said in that cocky tone of his that absolutely grated on Vince’s nerves at times. This was one of those times. Hadn’t the guy learned anything? He’d almost gotten himself frozen once. Vince wondered if he was brave or just that damn stupid to risk being “put on ice.”

  Vince pounded the end table with his fist, causing the walls to rattle before he bellowed, “Alexander, can’t you think with anything besides your dick?”

  “Good thing the table is marble, Vince. Alex, do I need to tell you to leave the room? You aren’t helping. We’ve been like brothers for many years, guys. I refuse to let one human girl, no matter how sweet and pretty she is, come between us,” Raven said.

  “Sorry, Raven, but I’m about sick of lover boy’s mouth. Tell me again why we need this sun seraph anyway.”

  “You need me because I’m one of the fiercest warriors in the universe, ice boy,” Alex said accenting the word boy. He enjoyed aggravating Vince sometimes. This was definitely one of those times. He continued in an arrogant tone for Vince’s benefit, “Our kind was created before you were a glint of ice in your daddy’s eye, wendigo. We were created to protect the Sun from planets that would steal its energy and destroy the balance of the entire universe. I’ve faced some of the most vicious combatants you can imagine and I’m still alive to tell about it.”

  “Really, brag much, Alex,” said Vince
, not sounding the least bit impressed, but grudgingly adding, “For Emma’s sake I’ll work with you, but I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your thoughts about her to yourself.”

  Vince really didn’t mind sharing some of Emma’s attention with either of his friends, but Alex was just being a prick about the situation. He’d never actually worked with Alex before. However, he was truly a fierce warrior like himself. Vince stated before Alex could drone on boastfully, “I've fought serpents as large as buildings and monstrous dragons. I’ve had to be ferocious or die.”

  “I still don’t think you have any idea how powerful I can be. Should I open my wings and show you how mighty I look as a flying warrior?”

  “Guess you think that makes you hot stuff here on earth, because you have a few golden feathers.” It was Vince’s turn to taunt.

  Alex made to open his wings to remind Vince exactly how powerful a few golden feathers could be, but Raven had had enough of the bickering.

  “Enough! Alex, don’t you dare materialize your wings and destroy the inside of our house. Vince, you need to cool it, too, not literally, mind you. Both of you need to stop worrying about making it with Emma and focus on how to protect her. It seems to aggravate the wendigo, angel, so stop with the mouth, now. I’d like to keep my house in one piece, Vince, so try to exercise a little patience. Alex has obviously forgotten how to act around other creatures, especially ones that are supposed to be his close friends.”

  Raven continued, “My dad wouldn’t be too happy to see everything frozen into oblivion either, Vince, so calm down. Alex, I really don’t appreciate how you’ve been talking about Emma, either. So, keep your comments to yourself, at least until this assignment is finished. Our job is to keep her safe. Since the two of you don’t want to agree on a non-romantic pact, it will be open season on Emma, or as they say, let the chips fall as they may. However, I will not tolerate any more arguing over her, understand? I also won’t tolerate anyone hurting her.”