Forgotten Visions (The Divinities Book 1)

by Lia Davis

Khloe took a sip of her tea and sighed as the cool taste of mint hit her tongue. “Well, Noah said that Demetrius owns a distribution company. Wanna bet it’s a cover for other activities?”

  “Oh,” Lydia said, realizing where Khloe was headed. “You plan to hack into the company records?” Lydia grinned at her new friend.

  “It wouldn’t hurt. Zach and Ayden would want to put them on surveillance, anyway.” Khloe smiled. At times, she surprised herself with her intelligence. It would also give her something to do while they waited to hear from Eleese.

  “What wouldn’t hurt?” Ayden’s voice drifted in, followed by his body.

  Khloe frowned. Ayden looked terrible. His hair stood on end more than Zach’s usually did. It looked like he’d tried to pull it out. Glancing down, she noticed how he rubbed his Divinity marks. “Putting Grayson Distributions on surveillance,” she answered.

  “Zach’s already on it,” Ayden responded flatly.

  “Since when?” Khloe asked in surprise.

  Ayden looked down at her from where he stood, leaning against the island. “This morning.”

  The phone rang. She jumped up and flew to the phone, but Ayden had it to his ear before she got there. Standing on her tiptoes, she pressed her ear to the back of the phone to listen.

  “Hold on,” Ayden said into the receiver, pushing her slightly to back up.

  She was about to snatch the phone away from him until he pushed the speaker button and held it out for everyone to hear.

  “Go ahead,” He prompted.

  “Wrong address.” Zach’s voice came out of the speaker.

  “What do you mean?” Khloe squeaked with fear.

  “Eleese said the house is abandoned. It’s up for foreclosure. No one’s lived in it for years.”

  “Are you sure?” Panic started to set in, squeezing her chest. Her eyes filled with tears, blurring her vision.

  “I checked it out myself. Ran another check on the address, and it appears the property appraiser’s office had a mix-up on their website,” Zach gravely stated.

  “Well? What’s the other address? The one it was mixed up with,” she urged. There had to be something, anything.

  He released a heavy sigh from the other end of the phone, sounding as tired as she felt. “It was misplaced.”

  Misplaced? Was he kidding? “How in the hell can they misplace property records?” Anger bubbled up inside her. Lightning cracked in the sky over the house.

  Ayden reached out to comfort her. She slapped away his hand. “I don’t want comforting. I want my fucking sister!” She turned and ran up to her room.

  Kalissa sat curled up on the seat of the bay window in Liam’s study. She’d asked if she could have the window opened and was surprised when he allowed it. She felt a little better sitting in front of the open window with the light summer breeze blowing inside, bringing the smells and sounds with it. There were gardenia bushes somewhere in the back yard. She smelled the fragrant flowers on the night air.

  “I had forgotten your element is air.”

  Kalissa looked at Liam when he spoke, startled. She’d been in here with him for hours, and this was the first time he had said anything to her. He was working at his computer, not giving any information regarding what he was working on. She really didn’t care, as long as it took his attention away from her.

  “Did you hear me?” He was annoyed that she hadn’t responded.

  Good. “I heard you.” She turned to look out into the dark of night. It was well past midnight.

  “You should go to bed,” Liam said sharply.

  “I’ll go to bed when I’m ready,” she snapped back.

  After a few moments, she looked at him and asked, “How did you get near the cabin without Willow knowing?”

  He shot her a dark look and then shrugged. “I’ve been to the cabin before, remember?”

  Yes, she remembered. They’d all gone to the cabin for weeks at a time. She’d invited Liam to come with her when a group of the coven kids went. Now that she thought about it, Willow hadn’t cared for the young Liam. She’d said he carried a darkness she didn’t recognize.

  “Why does your aura feel different? Why didn’t you die when your heart stopped beating?” she asked, feeling very brave.

  “What’s with the questions?” he asked sharply.

  Kalissa winced and turned back to look out the window once more. “No reason. Just feeling chatty.”

  After several moments of silence, Liam answered her questions. “I am half demon. My mother was half witch. My father is a full-blooded Amiddian demon. He gave me a serum that slowed the development of my demon DNA to keep me in my human state longer. He didn’t realize that the serum also caused a reaction to my magickin half from my mother. We didn’t know at the time that she carried witch DNA.”

  “What kind of reaction?” She had her suspicions, but she wanted to hear him say it.

  He looked at her full in the face. She shivered at the shadows behind his eyes. “It mutated my DNA, making my magical side stronger. I am what my father calls a Dark Divine. I am the opposite of a Divinity. You were born a demigod. I’m a demonic witch.”

  Kalissa had never thought much about the Divinity gene. She wasn’t sure where it came from, but the Elders believed it was a gift from the gods. Maybe they were right. If what Liam said was true, then the Divinities were actual children of the gods like their ancestors claimed. Liam was…their dark counterpart.

  “How many more are there like you?” Kalissa asked.

  Before he could reply, his phone rang. He answered it, and Kalissa went back to looking out the window. She took the opportunity to make her way upstairs so she could seal the door before going to sleep.

  When she reached the entry to the study, Liam said, “Where are you going?”

  She stopped, closed her eyes, and answered, “To bed.” She walked out of the room and ran up the stairs to Liam’s bedroom. Locking and sealing the door to hopefully keep him out, she went snooping. She was looking for anything that would give a clue as to where she was. She wasn’t quite sure what she’d do with the information when she found, but she had to do something. She was going stir-crazy. Looking for a way out was a good enough distraction for now.

  The closet looked like a good place to start. She opened the door and gasped. It was huge. Big enough to be a nursery. Don’t even go there, Lis. She shuddered. Peering inside the oversized closet, she frowned at the number of female items in there. He really didn’t expect her to wear those clothes, did he?

  His clothes were perfectly placed on the left side and hers on the right. It was creepy how he’d moved her in like she belonged there. It made her wonder how long he had been planning this. Since his death and rebirth in college? That was almost eight years ago. Had he stalked her for eight years?

  Twenty minutes later, she had gotten nowhere. Releasing a frustrated sigh, she sat down on the edge of the bed, wondering what to do now. The room was clean, too clean. She wondered if he ever slept in here. Do demons even sleep? she asked herself.

  She knew for sure she wouldn’t get much sleep. Not with him in the house.

  There was a knock on the door. She jumped slightly and rolled her eyes as she got up and walked over to it. “What do you want?” she demanded through the door.

  “Isa, let me in.” It came out as a demand, which did nothing but piss her off.

  “My name is Kalissa, and you’re not coming in,” Kalissa snapped back at him.

  Liam was quiet for a few seconds before saying, “There are clothes in the closet for you.” Another pause. “By the way. Your spell won’t keep me out of there.” He turned away from the door and walked down the hall toward the stairs.

  Nope. She wouldn’t sleep tonight.

  Chapter 29

  Kalissa woke the next morning to the smell of coffee and bacon. For a split second, she thought she was back home with Ayden. That train of thought was quickly diminished the moment she opened her eyes. She was still at L
iam’s house, sleeping in his bed. Oh, gods.

  She sat up, swinging her legs over the edge of the bed. She looked at the door. The spell was still in place. For that she was relieved; he had left her alone. Had he been bluffing about being able to break it?

  Standing, she walked to the closet that held her borrowed clothes. There was no way she was taking any of them with her when she left. She wanted nothing that reminded her of Liam.

  She opened the closet with a sigh and proceeded to search for something comfortable, yet disposable.

  The smell of bacon and coffee hit her nose again, and her stomach let out a roar. She sifted through the clothes until she found a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and then headed for the shower.

  The shower wasn’t as long as she would have liked. The need for food overrode the need to soak in the hot sprays. She entered the kitchen, expecting to find Liam. Instead, it was empty. There was a mini buffet set up on the breakfast nook. She walked closer to the table. There was only one plate and one cup of coffee. She frowned, not knowing what to think. Yes, he’d fixed her dinner the night before, but she hadn’t had the chance to eat after his tantrum. Absently, she lifted her hand to her right upper cheekbone and temple. It didn’t hurt, but there was a bruise that—thanks to her incredible healing abilities—was already starting to fade.

  She reached over, picked up a slice of bacon, and hesitantly brought it to her lips. She opened her mouth and bit down. The smoky, salty flavor almost made her moan. She should’ve never skipped out on dinner. Should have asked for something else, but that would have meant she had to apologize for being hit. Not gonna happen.

  Their relationship had been aggressive. He had emotionally and mentally attacked her several times, but he’d never struck her. In the end, she would simply say she was sorry for angering him. Gods, I was so young. And stupid.

  There was a note next to the display of food that she hadn’t seen at first when arriving at the table. She narrowed her eyes at it like it would somehow jump up to bite her. Her hand hovered over it for a few hesitant seconds before she picked it up.

  The food is not poisoned or spelled. Be back before noon. Stay in the house!

  Short and sweet, she thought dryly. He was such an ass.

  She ate her breakfast and had two cups of coffee before starting to clean up. She finished with the dishes as a scratch at the sliding glass drew her attention. Kalissa dried her hands and moved to the door. There was a yellow tabby cat sitting on the patio outside. When it saw Kalissa, it gave a soundless meow.

  Without thinking, she opened the door. The cat darted off into the middle of the yard. Kalissa stepped out onto the patio, coaxing the cat to her. The cat sat down in the grass about ten feet from her and cocked its head to the side as if studying her. Kalissa slowly walked toward the cat. Before she stepped off the patio, Liam materialized in front of her.

  “What are you doing?” he asked in a demanding voice.

  Kalissa took a step back from him. “Testing security?” she asked in a smart-assed tone. Ayden would have smiled at her. Not Liam. He wasn’t amused, so she explained. “There’s a kitty.” She pointed to the cat still sitting in the grass. “She looks lost and hungry.”

  Liam slowly turned his head to look at the cat and then looked back to Kalissa. “I told you to stay in the house.”

  Kalissa glared at him and crossed her arms over her breasts. She didn’t like his tone. “I’m not staying cooped up in that house.” She was proud of her firm resolve.

  With inhuman speed, he tightly gripped her arm and pulled her back into the house, closing the door behind them with his will.

  Her heart was pounding so hard it sounded like a drum inside her head as he dragged her to the office and shoved her toward the sofa. Stumbling, she fought to keep her balance and turned to look at him. His eyes were black as coal, and angry lines creased his forehead. She could almost see steam coming out of his ears.

  “Why do you do it?” His tone was laced with venom that told her to shut the fuck up. “I can’t go into work. I told you the windows and doors were spelled.”

  “I forgot,” she breathed out in barely a whisper, hating her weakness. His anger pushed his power out to her in warning. Dominance rolled off him, shoving her toward submission. She tried to push back, but her magic didn’t work with him. He was blocking her somehow. Like a force field that kept her from firing back. Protecting him.

  As Liam stalked to her, she felt like prey about to be swallowed by the big bad wolf. Mere inches from her, he reached out. She flinched as his fingers brushed her cheek, just under where he’d hit her last night.

  His power receded, and he turned to his desk. She exhaled a breath of relief and sat down on the sofa, studying him and plotting how the hell she was going to get out of there.

  A knock on the door brought her out of a light sleep. She watched Liam get up and walk out of the study. Standing, she followed him. There was a saying about curiosity killing the cat. Well, she couldn’t help herself. It may kill her not to know who was on the porch.

  Stopping about halfway into the foyer, she stood silently as he dropped the shields around the house and opened the door. “What the fuck do you want?” he growled at the female demon standing on the other side of the threshold.

  The demoness smiled, unfazed by his rudeness. “It is wonderful to see you too, Liam.” She pushed her way through the door and stopped cold when she saw Kalissa.

  Kalissa instantly disliked her. The look the demoness shot back to her said the feeling was mutual. Kalissa paid no attention to the new demon as she turned around and went back to the study.

  The two demons came in moments later. Liam looked annoyed as he sat behind the desk. The female hopped up on the wooden surface with an amused gaze trained on Kalissa.

  After a brief moment, Kalissa asked, “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?” She could almost see smoke coming out of his ears. He didn’t like the fact that she’d referred to the demoness as his friend. Interesting.

  “She’s leaving.” He gave the female a pointed look.

  The demoness just waved it off and hopped off the desk, stalking over to Kalissa with her hand outstretched in greeting. “I’m Samoan,” she said sweetly.

  Kalissa didn’t take her hand. Instead, she looked at her straight on and noticed that Samoan was not a full demon. She was half elf. Her black and blue hair was pulled back into a ponytail, revealing her slightly pointed ears. Her beautiful, child-like face looked like it belonged on a pixie. There was no doubt in Kalissa’s mind that Samoan used her looks and glamour to lure in her victims. What kind of victims and what Samoan did with them, Kalissa didn’t know—nor did she care at the moment. Her concern was Liam’s mood. He was already annoyed about Kalissa going outside. His temperament had darkened further with Samoan’s presence.

  Samoan didn’t seem to care as she moved in a little closer to Kalissa. “She’s very pretty, Liam,” Samoan baited him. Kalissa followed Samoan with her eyes as the she-demon circled around to the back of the sofa. Samoan stopped behind Kalissa, leaned in, and inhaled deeply. “She smells nice.”

  Kalissa flicked a glance at Liam. His eyes had darkened with anger. “Samoan.” It came out as a deep growl. It was a warning. From demonology classes at the coven, Kalissa knew that demons were highly territorial. Samoan was invading Liam’s territory. She was the territory.

  Kalissa flinched when the heat of Samoan’s mouth touched her cheek. “You should let me break her for you. I’d do it for free.” Kalissa didn’t need to see Samoan’s face to know there was a smile there.

  Then she was gone. Kalissa turned her head. Samoan had been thrown against the wall behind her, leaving a nice indentation of her body. Liam loomed over the other demon like a bull ready to charge. Kalissa stood up to face them. Liam’s skin took on a silvery grey appearance. He went full demon. It didn’t matter how many she had seen or fought in the past week, fear still sparked inside her.

  Liam look
ed at Kalissa. She took a step back, gasping. Liam’s eyes were completely black. “Go upstairs, Isa,” he growled.

  Kalissa swallowed her heart back down into her chest where it belonged. “Are you…going to kill her?” She wasn’t sure why she cared. She didn’t like Samoan. The bitch was evil, but she didn’t want Liam to kill her. At least, not with Kalissa in the house.

  Liam stared at her in silence for several minutes before speaking. “Just do as I asked.” It was said in a lower tone as if he were trying to redirect his rage from her. Kalissa darted out of the study. But instead of going upstairs, she went to the door. Reaching out with her hand, she smiled. He didn’t replace the spell.

  Freedom!

  She opened the front door and stepped outside, then waited a few seconds. The sounds of breaking glass indicated that the demons were too preoccupied to notice her. She took off to the heavily wooded area adjacent to the house. If she could make it off his property line and past the wards, she could teleport home. The mere thought of home, of Ayden and Khloe, made her cry out with glee.

  Chapter 30

  Kalissa had been gone for six hours. Ayden was a mess. After Khloe’s emotional blowup last night, he’d gone to the station to get some paperwork done, hoping that he could calm some of his anxiety. It didn’t work. He hadn’t slept at all. The only semi-rest he’d gotten was when he’d dozed off in his chair, searching public and nonpublic records for clues.

  “Man, you need some sleep,” Zach said, entering Ayden’s office.

  “Yeah. Easier said than done.” Ayden raked his hand through his hair. “Heard anything?”

  “Nothing yet,” Zach said with a heavy sigh, sitting down in a chair across the desk from Ayden. “I just checked email.”

  Ayden let out a curse. Eleese had said she would keep looking and let them know if she found out anything. He was grateful for the Elder’s help but too tired to express it.

  The intercom buzzed on his desk phone. He picked up the receiver. “Yeah.”