by J. R. Thorn
He continued to smile at me and offered his hand. “It’s me.”
I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. This couldn’t be happening.
I didn’t hear him approach, but his lips pressed against mine as he soundlessly surrounded me and I melted. Only Jeffery’s kiss could make me feel like this.
When he pulled away and I opened my eyes again, I found Devon peering over Jeffery’s shoulder as he frowned at me. “You seriously didn’t know he was using you to turn into a vampire?”
“Hey,” Jeffery snapped, “I wasn’t using her. I was doing what needed to be done to save her.”
I blinked at Devon, then looked back at Jeffery who—now that I thought about it—did look a little different. His emerald eyes held a mysterious gleam to them like cat’s eyes in the dark. All the freckles had disappeared from his face, leaving him statuesque with perfect, sculpted cheekbones. He smiled, and while it was the same handsome smile that made my toes curl, my gaze fell to very real fangs that pricked against his lips. My eyes went wide and I drew in a breath for a scream.
“Ren,” he said, his voice familiar enough to ground me and help me swallow my fear that was about to bubble out of me like a pot set on boil, “don’t be afraid. “
This couldn’t be real. Jeffery was alive?
My gaze flew to his and my fingernails bit into my palms. “Devon’s right. You used me.” Tears threatened to spill over my cheeks and I brushed them away as anger swelled in my chest.
Jeffery’s face fell. He hated when I cried. “Ren,” he said with a soft tone. The way he said my name made my insides twist in recognition, and he knew it.
Before he could lure me into even the idea of forgiving him, I pressed against the sculpted wall of his chest to shove past him. The raw strength under my fingertips frightened me, and even though I knew he could have been as immobile as a lump of stone, he moved with me so I could step around him.
Jeffery had always been strong… but not that strong.
I marched over to Edwin who seemed to be the most levelheaded of the group. I slammed a finger into his chest, my knuckle popping under the equally unmovable wall of muscle. “Some protector you are,” I snapped. “Aren’t you supposed to stop threats from sneaking into my room now that I’m your beloved ‘Keymaster?’”
I would say that Edwin frowned, but his face was a permanent visage of hard lines and disapproval. Those lines deepened as he studied me. “Vampires rule this world,” he said as if that explained everything. When I continued to stare at him, he added, “They’re just as strong as an angel of heaven. A Keymaster of your inexperience needs the best of all three worlds to outrun fate.”
A humorless laugh bubbled out of me. “You’re telling me that my ex-boyfriend—secretly turned vampire—is my third protector and necessary ally to help me save the world?”
“He’s not telling you everything,” Devon said, irritation giving his voice an uncharacteristic growl that betrayed his underworld connection. “He’s leaving out the part—”
Edwin shoved past me to clamp a hand over Devon’s mouth. “She’s not ready to learn everything yet,” he said, his tone flat and dangerous. He lowered his voice until the words came out like a razor’s edge. “Keep your mouth shut, or I’ll shut it for you.”
“Okay, that’s it,” I said and snapped a finger at the doorway. “All of you get out of my face.”
Jeffery rushed to my side. “Babe, if you just let me explain—”
I held up a hand to block out the magnetizing pull of his gaze. “I just need to be alone. Give me thirty minutes to digest all of this, okay? You can’t expect me to process this kind of shock with all of you staring at me like I’m going to implode.”
Jeffery backed away, the hurt expression on his face twisting my stomach, but he finally obeyed and left the room so fast I didn’t even see him open the door. Devon and Edwin stared at the lingering shadow where he’d been, with Devon giving a slow whistle. “Forgot how fast vampires are,” he said, not hiding his admiration as he opened the door. He paused in the hall to give me a raised brow. “You sure you’re okay?”
I sank my teeth into my lower lip, not sure how to digest the tone of sweet concern a bad-boy like Devon expressed for me… someone he barely knew. Yet, the way he looked at me made me feel like he’d known me all my life.
Then I remembered there was so much that had been hidden from me. Jeffery wasn’t human. Edwin and Devon knew my grandmother… no, not my grandmother, my mother. Her fortune-telling business was real and there was a secret chamber in her shop with a grimoire that had summoned two angels. Now I had inherited responsibilities I didn’t even know how to approach. I wanted to hear everything these three men who’d come into my life could tell me… but I needed a minute to breathe.
“Just thirty minutes,” I assured Devon and Edwin who watched me with unwavering attention.
Edwin pushed Devon through the doorway and gave me a handsome smile. “We’ll be downstairs when you’re ready for us.”
His voice held such assurance and authority that I had no doubt he’d come running if I barely whispered his name—all three of them would. I felt bad kicking them out, realizing that two angels plucked out of their own worlds wouldn’t have anywhere to go other than my shitty apartment and its pathetic excuse for a lobby on the ground level, but Edwin didn’t give me a chance to take back my demands as he shut the door.
I sighed and pushed aside a dusty drape. I never looked out the window, but now I watched the wet pavement from my third-floor view for any sign of tall, dark, and handsome guys leaving me alone to deal with the fate of the world myself.
Only a lazy trail of cars sped by, framed by the wilted buildings of my corner street that boasted affordable living in a midtown sky rise. My grandmother—mother—thought I’d love it here. And I did… until I realized how lonely I was. I never felt safe as if my very nightmares haunted me with an unseen threat. The loneliness bit at me with its never-ending sting. Being surrounded by so many people who didn’t even know my name just seemed to make the loneliness even worse.
Letting the drape fall over the window, I took in the state of my apartment, which wasn’t great. An old pizza box tilted dangerously over the edge of the kitchen bar and I couldn’t even see the frayed carpet floor with the sprawl of tousled sheets where my new protectors had slept. Without thinking, I knelt and curled my fingers through the fabric, finding myself longing for the warmth of their bodies. There was a definite connection between them that grew in my stomach like an ember, and soon my desire would stoke it into flames.
There was something familiar and comforting about Devin, Edwin, and of course Jeffery. That’s what scared me the most. I didn’t understand how I could be attached to supernatural creatures I’d only just met, as well as an ex like Jeffery. He’d lied to me. He’d faked his own death and allowed me to live with the guilt of it all this time. Now that he was back, I wanted to kill him all over again… after I indulged in the feel of his body.
I plucked my cell out of my pocket and dialed the one person who would know how to fix all this. I knew she was dead, but I found her hospital room on my contacts and pressed it anyway.
Setting it on speaker, my fingers shook as the phone rang. It kept ringing, and I began to wonder if the hospital had voicemail.
Then someone picked up.
“Renee, sweetie, I thought you might call me.”
Every muscle in my body went taut as that voice knocked the air out of my lungs. “Grandma?”
A laugh, then the connection made a haunted, screeching sound before quieting. “You’re not going crazy. I died last night just like you saw in your vision.”
My blood ran cold and my fingers clenched hard around the phone. Hot tears trailed down my cheeks as I found the will to speak. “Then how are you talking to me?”
Another eerie screech and a sound of frustrated slapping, the way my grandmother would do when flies got into her shop. “I’m a spirit guide, r
emember? A little phone call is a piece of cake.”
I shivered. “Grandma. I don’t know what to do. There are these guys and—”
A sound of delight came from the phone. “You’ve already summoned Devon and Edwin? Oh, that is so wonderful. Are they treating you well? Did they explain everything?”
I shook my head and tears flung from my face. Pain and panic swelled in my chest and threatened to tear me apart. “I can’t do this. Jeffery’s back too and—”
“Oh, darling. You haven’t given them a chance to explain everything, of course. I know it’s a lot, but you’re my daughter. You can handle this.”
Black spots sprinkled my vision. “So, I am your daughter?”
Another laugh. “Of course. I couldn’t go around having you believe I was your mother and make you a target at school. One look at me, a nine-hundred-year-old woman, and doubts would run heavy, but that’s the truth. I carried you into this world shortly after reuniting with your father. Then time caught up with me and I began to age.” Her voice drifted and I could almost see the soft acceptance on her face when she told me a hard truth of the world. “That’s when I knew you would inherit my role as Keymaster, and I accepted that.” A long breath. “I hope that you can too, because I know you can do this. Four worlds are counting on you, dear, and so am I.”
My vision wavered and I knew I was about to have a panic attack, but I kept a death grip on my phone. The eerie shrieks were growing louder and I’d been around my mother long enough to know when a session was coming to an end. Every time I’d seen one of her clients clutching to the soft fabric of the fortune table, I’d pitied them. They never wanted to let go of their lost loved ones. I’d thought it sad, and a bit pathetic. Now I was one of them.
I didn’t have to ask what my mother meant by four worlds. It was all true, and Edwin hadn’t told me everything. There was heaven and hell, Earth of course… but also the spirit realm. “What’ll happen to you if I fail?” I asked, not caring that my voice cracked.
“Don’t you worry about me,” she said, her voice going distant. I squinted as I strained to hear her last words.
“You are my daughter, Keymaster of the four worlds and our last hope against the ultimate darkness of death. You will chase fate, and you will win.”
“Mother?” I cried, the word a plea.
The phone crackled so hard I could barely hear her as she faded back into the spirit realm.
“I love you.”
Chapter 5
The call dropped and I let the phone fall to the ground with a soft thump as it hit the sheets. The tears finally bubbled out of me as angry claws of grief shredded my insides. Ragged hiccups took over my breathing and I knew I was about to get a crash course of ugly crying. I rarely cried, except when Jeffery hit all the right buttons, but this was worse. This was a lifetime of pent-up frustration and realization breaking through and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
Everyone was counting on me.
My mother was dead.
I grabbed my chest before the grief tore itself out. I kept my hand pinned hard against my ribcage as if to keep the suffering trapped there before it tore me to shreds. There was nothing I could do. I’d never felt so much pain in all my life.
It wasn’t fair. I couldn’t save this world, much less multiple ones. I couldn’t even save my own mother.
As the pain threatened to take me under, a violent beating sounded at the door. “Renee, let me in,” a strong, authoritative voice demanded from the other side.
Part of me found the will to collect my shards of anger that Edwin probably had been right outside my door this whole time. He hadn’t gone downstairs, but another part of me was glad. I acknowledged how much I craved him, his strength and assurance where I had none.
I scrambled to the door as sobs still ransacked me and I opened it. I expected him to cringe at my puffy nose, my swollen eyes and ugly tears, but he closed the small distance between us and wrapped his arms around me. He held me tight. My fingers curled under his shirt and scratched up his back, riding over the light scars where his wings should have been.
I cried and let my body be fully taken by the sobs. I knew I wouldn’t split apart because Edwin would hold me together. He was the strongest of my three protectors and he could do anything he set his mind to. The way he held onto me said that I wasn’t going anywhere. He could keep me in one piece even as I tore at the seams.
When his fingers ran through my hair, he pulled my head back and I wanted to turn away. I was a gross, crying mess. I could scarcely breathe, but he crushed his lips to mine anyway. I breathed him in as if I’d never drawn breath before. The pure intoxication of him filled me and my mouth parted to let him in. He tasted like ambrosia and honey, even though I had no idea what ambrosia should taste like… he was certainly it.
His fingers still tugging the roots of my hair taut in a possessive grip, he pulled me away and I opened my eyes to find his once serious eyes filled with raw desire. “Do you feel better?” he asked, his voice coming out rough and husky.
My fingers trailed up his arms until I got to his face. Finally he released me and his eyelids fluttered under my touch as if I could send him into a trance. “A little,” I admitted. I was too mesmerized by the invisible cord that wound about my soul and drew me to him until I felt as if we could never be parted.
He smiled, the gesture making my knees wobble and I leaned on him for support. He held me effortlessly and placed another kiss on my brow. “I’m glad you’re accepting what you are. It wouldn’t have worked without our bond.”
“What wouldn’t have worked?” I asked, still gazing up at him as my grief faded, replaced with a deep yearning to explore everything Edwin had to offer that made me feel like this. Adored. Loved. Needed.
His hands wrapped around my arms and pulled me away, the movement one of pure restraint. I sensed the manly need in him and my gaze dipped to the betraying bulge of his pants. “You’re not ready,” he said. “I cannot be first. That is not my role.”
My gaze darted to the door, instantly sensing the equal connection to Devon and Jeffery that had yet to be ignited. “First?”
Even though I managed to stand apart from him, his fingers continued to caress, to stroke and adore. “We’re not just your protectors, Renee. We’re the keys to unlocking your heart, and you are the master of ours. Together, we are a force powerful enough to challenge fate itself.”
My eyes went wide. This connection between us was a tangible thing so real I could almost reach out and graze it with my fingers. I wanted nothing more than to explore it. “Who’s first?” I found myself asking. My yearning for Edwin made a heat of embarrassing proportions thrum at the place between my thighs, but he didn’t seem to mind. His eyes continued to roam my body as he made no effort to hide his interest in me. “Jeffery,” he said, and I frowned. He laughed and ran a thumb over my lower lip. “I know you’re not thrilled, but he was human before he turned. You were attracted to him for a reason, Renee. Your body knew him even before he was a vampire, before the bond was awakened to your protectors.”
I turned my head away, leaving his warmth to graze a scalding line along my cheek. His finger ran down my neck and gave me slow shivers. “Are you telling me that I’m supposed to sleep with Jeffery?” What kind of kinky magic did my mother get me into?
He laughed. “I’m afraid that’s exactly how this works, but don’t be shy. Sex is a beautiful, wonderful thing. To become one with your protectors on a physical and emotional level will help keep you grounded and in control as your powers grow with you.” He finally leaned in, his lips tracing where his fingers had just been on the rapid pulse of my neck.
I shivered. “And if I say no?”
His eyes glimmered with mischief that could have rivaled Devon’s wicked gaze. “You can try.”
Edwin left me for a few moments to retrieve Jeffery and Devon. Apparently Devon had been causing mischief, which didn’t surprise me at all. He came in with a h
uge grin on his face. “That neighbor won’t be bothering you again.”
I gave a raised brow. I knew exactly what neighbor he was talking about and no one got Miss Stacy, the forty-five-year-old hermit, to stop letting her cats shit out in the hallway. “Why…” I asked, “what did you do?”
He flexed his fingers. “Ever hear that cats are the gatekeepers to hell?”
I didn’t like where this was going. “Like, Egyptian mythology?” I knew that cats were absurdly protected in Egypt to the point where cat lives were put before human ones. I tilted my head. “Is Miss Stacy a crazy Egyptian cat lady and you wooed her by threatening to turn her into a mummy?”
Devon laughed, the sound completely different than Edwins in the way that it was so carefree, but at the same time oh so sexy. I sank my teeth into my lower lip to keep a moan from escaping. Damn, since when was I turned on by guys I barely knew? What was wrong with me?
“Cats and I get along,” he said. “I gave them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
I peered around him and a laughing Jeffery as Miss Stacy ran down the stairs calling for her cats which had mysteriously gone missing. “You didn’t,” I breathed.
“Yep,” he said, sounding smug. “Hell just got a new litter.”
I scrambled to the door and shoved Jeffery aside so I could slam it closed. “Are you crazy? What if someone saw you?”
“Relax,” Devon said, draping an arm around my neck. The familiar movement made me suck in a breath. “The only person who saw me was your boyfriend.”
Jeffery glowered. “Ex,” he corrected. “Pretty sure I gave up that title when I died.”
Now that I’d gotten past the shock and grief, I spotted the guilt that painted lines across his face. I went to him and Devon effortlessly unwrapped his arm from me to allow me to curl into Jeffery’s embrace. “Tell me everything,” I said.
Jeffery peered down at me and his muscles relaxed under my touch. We fit so well together and I’d almost forgotten how hard and soft he could be all at the same time. He looked up, sending Edwin and Devon the unspoken request that we be left alone. I had the feeling that this connection between my protectors was one I couldn’t explain, but each protector pulled at a different part of me. I needed to immerse myself completely to unlock the first whisper of magic that Jeffery ignited within me.
