by Kailin Gow
“Yes, he sees them, too, and I think it’s one step further. He’s supposed to protect me…like Lothario.”
Brax’s mouth opened to say, “Ah ha… so that’s why you’ve been, I mean Asher’s been…hanging out with you so much.” His eyes clouded over with jealousy. “He’s supposed to be your guardian, that’s all?”
“He also sketches angels and suddenly knows a lot about them,” I said. “He’s a good friend, Brax, and my mom loves having him come by for dinner.”
Brax’s jaw tensed, and he couldn’t help the jealousy that crept through his speech. “So he’s now part of the family…I see.”
“Brax…I’m not ready to be serious with anyone, and besides… Asher is just a good friend.”
“A friend who wants a lot more from you, Lux. I can see that as clear as day. And now he has the perfect excuse to hang out with you…your guardian!”
“He is, believe it or not,” I said. It can’t be helped that despite him being my guardian, we also shared an undeniable chemistry. I guess I must in order to be so intimately and intensely connected to anyone remotely like me. “Hey Brax, don’t worry. You know I cared a lot for you, too, right? Or I wouldn’t be spending all this time with you, and…” I kissed him long and slowly. “Showing you how much I cared, right?”
He kissed me back, but still looked worried. Suddenly remembering the surprise I had for Braxton, I jumped up, grabbed my purse from the table and came back to sit at his side. “I almost forgot. I brought something for you, something to give you a winning chance with your next encounter.”
He gave a light, chauvinistic huff and chuckled. “I appreciate your confidence.”
“This isn’t a male female thing, Braxton. Fighting demons doesn’t rely on brute strength alone. It’s something that comes from within. Your faith, your belief, your knowledge of who you are. But…” I pulled out a thick platinum cross. It was far too bulky for me to wear, but I’d always loved its strong gothic lines. “This weapon is crucial.”
He sat up to look more closely at the crucifix. “Yeah, I saw what you did with a cross the other day. You know, for a few days after that, I still tried to rationalize it all; you fighting, demons appearing then crumbling to dust. I wanted to make sense of it, even tried to convince myself it was some type of dream.”
“I understand how you feel. It’s not easy accepting this.”
“But it was that smell… the awful smell that filled my nostrils. I could even taste it at the back of my throat.”
“Fighting demons isn’t pretty, and I have to warn you, you never get used to that awful smell. If anything the death of that demon the other day didn’t leave behind the more pungent of odors. I’ve smelled worse… much worse.”
“Thanks for the warning.” He reached out to finger the crucifix and I saw his eyes light up the moment his fingers made contact.
Smiling, I set my free hand over his. “You felt it, didn’t you?”
Surprised, yet clearly understanding what I meant, Brax gazed at me and nodded.
“That’s the faith I was telling you about. It’s always been in you, Braxton.” I released the chain, relinquishing the power of that crucifix.
Hearing footsteps from inside, we both stiffened and I noticed how his fingers instinctively wrapped around his new weapon. He would make a fine warrior.
“I’m not ready to fight just yet,” he whispered as we stood.
“Stay close to me, Brax.” I led the way inside, more nervous about this fight than ever before. Following the sounds of movement from the study, I inched my way closer, every step making me more and more apprehensive. It was Brax, I suddenly realized. My concern for his safety was hindering my capacity to think straight.
“Hold on, Lux,” Braxton said as he walked into the hall and stepped in front of me. “I know you have more experience, but I can’t let you go in there before me.”
He entered the room and exclaimed, “Uncle?”
“Braxton!”
I could hear the nervous surprise in Dr. Kingsley’s voice as I wedged my way into the doorway and peered over Braxton’s shoulder in time to see Kingsley shelve an old tattered book. I resisted the urge to stare blatantly at the book, to try to read the title from across the room, but took a mental note of its placement to get a better look later.
“I had no idea you guys were here,” Dr. Kingsley went on, his eyes shifting between Brax and me. “I thought you had lacrosse practice or something.” He gazed more pointedly at me. “Hello, Lux.”
“Lux came over to study. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not. In fact I’m happy to see you're spending so much time together. St. James isn’t an easy school to acclimate to and I’m sure Lux, as well as her parents, appreciate all you’ve done for her.”
I smiled, pleased to see my presence wasn’t an intrusion.
“How do you like St. James, Lux?”
“I like it more and more, thanks to Braxton. I’d be drowning in work if it weren’t for him.”
Dr. Kingsley offered Braxton an approving nod. “That’s good to know. Braxton has always been a responsible and reliable young man. I knew he’d do a good job.”
“Thanks, Uncle, but it’s not really a job. I love being with Lux.” The back of his hand brushed against mine and he shot me a look that anyone could see was a young man in love. “Truth be told, studying is just an excuse to spend more time with her. I love just hanging out with her.”
Our discreet touch went unnoticed while Dr. Kingsley turned his interest to another book on his desk. He picked it up, tapped it affectionately, then walked around his desk. Well, I’ll get out of your way and allow you guys to… hang out. I have a few things to attend to, like final preparations for the auction tomorrow night. I need to peruse the finalized list of antiques that will be up for bidding.”
His gaze met mine as he came to the door. “I trust I’ll see you tomorrow night, Lux. This is to be a big night for your father, and I look forward to seeing you again.”
“That’s right,” Braxton said, barely containing the whine in his voice. “We have a charity ball at the Hatchett’s. I’d almost forgotten.”
“It’ll be the biggest night of the year, Braxton.” He patted his nephew on the shoulder as he walked on. “Many influential people will be there…”
Braxton and I remained silent as we listened to his uncle’s footsteps fade away. The silence became heated, weighted with the desire I felt for Brax, the need to get closer.
“So you like hanging out with me?” I finally said. I bit back on a smile, hoping to bring out a profuse blush in his cheeks.
It worked. His cheeks turned crimson, making me smile all the more.
“I’m sure you're not surprised to learn this. I’ve been crazy about you from the very beginning.” He walked to his uncle’s desk, leaned back against it and held his hands out for me to come to him. My hands in his, he pulled me into his arms and let his fingers trace a path from my fingertips up to my shoulders. “I’m crazy about you, Lux. More than you know,” He whispered.
His lips pressed into the tender skin beneath my ear and I couldn’t resist turning to find his lips with my own. I wanted his kiss, the warmth of his breath and the tickle of his tongue, and he willingly gave me it all. My head spun, but, for the first time in a long while, there were no images of Moore. The kiss belonged entirely to Braxton, and I wanted to revel in it.
Still clinging to him, my kisses trailed over to his cheeks as my gaze sought the book his uncle had so secretively set back on the shelf. Most of the books were new, or at least clean and dust free, but this book had been old, faded and almost shabby in appearance.
And there it was, sitting between Jules Verne and Mark Twain; The Book of Angels. I wanted to reach out for it, to try to find the page Dr. Kingsley had been reading, and to discover the contents of such a book, but Braxton had other ideas.
“Come on,” he said, guiding me out of the study. “I don’t want to ris
k my uncle hearing what I have to say.”
I set my curiosity aside and followed Brax outside where I quickly turned to him. “What is it?”
“He doesn’t know.”
“About your visions?”
“Yeah. He has no idea.”
“How can that be?” My parents knew without my even telling them; then again, I’d been so young. Perhaps I’d said something without even realizing it. “Don’t you want him to know?”
He shook his head.
“Braxton, he’s your family. You know I’ll always be there for you and you can talk to me about anything, but you need to have support from your family as well. You need to have someone who’ll back you up.”
“I can’t, Lux.” He gazed around, concern creasing his brow. When he finally brought his gaze back to me, it was filled with suspicion and doubt. “I don’t trust him.”
“Braxton.” I pulled back, surprised by his declaration.
He pulled me further out into the yard, held me close and spoke quietly. “I think he had something to do with my parents’ disappearance.”
I gasped, but said nothing as we continued to distance ourselves from the house. Only when Braxton stopped did I say, “How can you say that, Braxton? He’s your uncle.”
“That’s just it. Remember when I told you I’d never known him before?”
I nodded.
“I didn’t just mean he was some long lost uncle I’d never met, I mean, I’ve never even heard of him before. He claims to be my father’s brother, but all my life, I’ve only heard my father speak of his sister.”
“Maybe they’d had a falling out and no longer spoke. They wouldn’t be the first brothers to do so.”
Biting his lip, he shook his head and stared into the distance. “I did a bit of research,” he said softly. “I couldn’t find anything tying him to my family at all. Nothing.”
“Braxton, if the authorities allowed him to become your legal guardian, they must have found some connection between the two of you. Maybe you're mistaken and he’s not your father’s brother, but your father’s cousin. Did you look that far?”
He nodded and I could see how concerned he was by the whole affair. “He’s a very powerful man. No doubt getting the authorities to believe whatever he wanted them to believe was a breeze. Throw enough money at any problem and you quickly find a solution.”
I tried to squelch the sense of alarm that was slowly working its way up to my neck. I thought of my father. What kind of man was he really working for? Kingsley had deliberately sought my father. Why?
My father was knowledgeable, conscientious, responsible and he had a passion for his work like few people I’d ever met. No doubt any employer would be proud to have him, but…. Dad had been appointed Dean of Antiquities just days after I’d been expelled.
At the time we’d all applauded the perfect timing. Now I couldn’t help but wonder if that perfect timing was more calculated than any of us had assumed. Dad got a new job, I had a new school… a new school with another potential demon hunter… and he just happened to be the supposed nephew of the man who’d set it all in motion.
I tried to shake the notions from my head, but the more I thought about it, the more clearly defined the whole plot became.
Kingsley was playing us all like puppets, and we were all gleefully going along.
Gazing up at Braxton, I considered mentioning the book his uncle had been reading when we were unexpectedly interrupted. Certainly, Mr. Kingsley’s choice in reading material was no coincidence. He brought Braxton and me together for a reason.
But what?
“There you kids are.”
Startled, we turned to see Dr. Kingsley on the back patio.
As we approached him, I knew the blush on my cheeks would divulge my adolescent embarrassment at being caught red handed with my teenage love… not my suspicions of his actions.
Kingsley’s gaze, indulgent and amused, skimmed over my face. “Ah,” he sighed. “Young love. What a delightful pair you make.”
The blush on my cheeks intensified. “Thank you.”
“I’ve a meeting in town,” Dr. Kingsley went on. “I trust you’ll continue to be a gentleman in the presence of such a lovely young woman.”
“As always, Uncle.”
“The cook can prepare a small feast for you if you kids get hungry.”
“Thanks, but we were planning on eating out.”
Dr. Kingsley nodded. “I bid you both good night, then.”
The moment he disappeared I tugged on Braxton’s arm. “Come on,” I ordered. “I want to show you something.”
He reluctantly followed, each step hesitant and heavy. When we came to the study door, he stopped. “Lux, what are you doing? This is his private study. You shouldn’t…”
I yanked on his arm and pulled him in. “Just get in here.”
He snickered. “Man, I love a woman who knows what she wants.”
I threw him an amused grin and turned my attention to the shelves. “Your uncle was quick to shove a book back on the shelf.” I passed my fingers over the volumes, a sense of defeat quickly working its way through my consciousness. Twain was there. Verne was there. But the book of angels was nowhere to be seen. “Damn it,” I muttered.
“Lux,” Brax said. “What are you looking for?”
“Your uncle owns a book he has no reason to own,” I blurted out as I turned to him. “Why would he be interested in angels?”
Brax shrugged. “I have no idea.” His gaze scanned the shelves. “Lux, there are hundreds of book in here and just as many subjects. He’s obviously a man of many interests.” He came to finger Verne. “I wouldn’t have thought he’d be the kind of guy to read Around the World in Eighty Days either, but there it is.”
“Brax, had we been planning to run away and travel the world, I would have been suspicious of that as well. As it so happens, we’ve been brought together, not as coincidentally as I would have believed, to fight demons. We’ve been brought together by…” I stared wide-eyed at him. “… Angels, Brax. We were brought together by angels. Coincidence that your uncle not only owns an old and rather important looking book on angels, but he just so happened to be going through it when we surprised him and…” I turned to point to the space between Twain and Verne. “… now that very book is gone.”
Brax seemed reluctant to believe what I was trying to tell him.
“You said yourself you don’t even know how he’s related to you. For all you know he’s a pure stranger who perhaps knew the powers you’d one day come to have.”
I glanced around the shelves, hoping to find further evidence of Dr. Kingsley’s penchant for the supernatural. Several bibles lined one shelf while many books regarding the apocalypse lined another. The top shelf held a few books on myths and folklore, even one or two about demons.
Then my eye caught on a shiny new black binder. It didn’t fit in with the rest of these important looking books. I reached up to pull it out from under the few books that lay atop it. My hand almost shook with excitement as I brought the binder to the desk.
Taking a deep breath and swallowing the growing lump in my throat, I opened the binder.
“Newspaper clippings,” Brax muttered.
My heart thundered painfully in my chest. “All about bodies that have been drained.” I flipped through the pages, all neatly placed in plastic page protectors. “These go back as far as the 60s. My God, what is he doing with this?”
Brax pushed my hand away and looked more closely at the most recent entry in the binder. “This one is from just two years ago. Did you notice where they found the body?” He pointed to the article.
“St. James Academy,” I muttered.
“The young female body was found at the far end of the field behind St. James, her body drained and dried up like a mummy,” he read.
A chill traveled down my spine and the sting of tears burned my eyes.
“What does my uncle have to do with all this?”
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Chapter 16
The moment Brax saw me he let out a long and slow whistle. “You never cease to amaze me, Lux.”
I indulged him and spun around, showing him every angle of the beautiful black velvet sleeveless dress my mother had loaned me. The floor length dress was elegant and exactly the touch of class I’d hoped for while best showing off my curves where I had them.
“You like?” I asked.
He cocked his head to the side. “A little too much,” he said. “I’m likely to skip this charity ball altogether and find a nice quiet place to ravish you.”
“Mind your manners,” I chastised as I grabbed Mom’s little clutch and joined Brax at the door. “This dress is all class, not crass. My mom even wore this to the opera when we were in Seattle.”
He pulled me into his arms and gazed lovingly down at me. “Lux, I have nothing but respect for you…and this burning desire to ravish you. I never tire of looking at you.” His fingers lightly touched my arms, sending thrills up my spine. “I will never tire touching you, too. Your skin is so touchably soft.” He bent down to place his warm lips on arms, kissing his way up to my cheeks, eyes, and then lips. I was kissing him back when he pull away. His eyes swept up the staircase and I knew he was looking for my parents.
“Yes, they’ve already made their way to the ball, but don’t get any more funny ideas, Mister. We have to be there too, remember?”
Pouting like a child, he grabbed my hand and led me out to his car where he opened the door for me.
“You're the most darling petulant little boy I’ve ever seen,” I said as I got in. “That pout and that tuxedo make for a rather oddly attractive combination.”
He nodded before solemnly closing the door and walking around to get in the driver’s seat.
“Are you going to pout throughout the entire ball?” I asked with a teasing grin.
“Seeing how attractive you find my pout, how can I resist?” Biting down on an irrepressible smile, he started the car and headed to the Hatchett mansion.
We entered the ball and quickly became the focal point of everyone in attendance. Eyes, envious, jealous, proud and enchanted, followed our every step.
