by Alex Lux
A tear leaked down my cheek as I thought about how much would change if I lost Drake.
The door opened again, this time with Desirai and Ana. My daughter ran to me on her chubby toddler legs. "Mama! I miss you."
Desirai gave an apologetic smile. "I tried to keep her distracted, but she insisted."
"It's okay, Des. Thank you. We'll watch her for awhile."
Desirai spared a glance at Drake, then slipped out of the room quietly as I pulled my daughter into my lap, smelling her strawberry scented hair and relishing the feeling of her little hands gripping me. "I missed you too, baby."
She turned to look at Drake, her face a small, puckered frown. "Daddy still dying, but…" Her brows creased. "But he's less dying than before."
I didn't know how she knew, but she had powers we hadn't yet figured out. She leaned into him, touching his hand. "Get better, Daddy. Mommy too sad without you. Me too."
I sucked in the sob stuck in my throat. She was too young to know such things, but then, I'd been too young when my powers interfered with my life as well. We couldn't change who she was, only help her live with those gifts and use them well.
When she noticed Luke and Lucy, she jumped off my lap and ran to them. "Uncle Luke, Aunt Lucy, did you come to see Daddy and Mommy?"
Lucy smiled and hugged Ana. "We sure did. But we also came to see you. And, we brought you presents. Want to go see?"
Ana looked around uncertainly, not wanting to leave me, but very much wanting new presents. I smiled at her. "Go ahead honey, you can come back when you're done."
The air seemed to leave the room when they closed the door behind them. I'd been alone in here for hours, but it felt lonelier now that the recent surge of love and energy had gone.
I could hear Luke and Lucy's thoughts as they showed Ana her new presents. Worry for me and Drake. Joy at seeing Ana.
Shutting my mind to them, I rested my head on Drake's chest, listening to the erratic heartbeat through his hospital gown. "Drake, wake up. Please, wake up. I can't do this without you. I don't want to."
There was a time I thought I'd have to raise Ana alone, when Drake lost his powers because of me and left us. I'd found my strength then, and I could do it again, for Ana, if I had to. But I didn't want to. Drake had grown so much since then. He wore his new abilities well, allowing them to mature him into an amazing man and father. We'd fallen in love even more deeply since our wedding.
My tears soaked through his shirt, the heat of his body burning my face.
When Tammy walked in, I swiped at my eyes and tried to smile. "Hey, what's up?"
She sat next to me. "You okay? I can stay here with him for a bit. Why don't you get some food and rest?"
I shook my head. "I can't leave him, but thank you."
"I understand. But you're not alone in this. We're all here for you." Tammy and Dean didn't live here full-time, but they'd been spending more and more time here, and had become good friends. The kids loved the Druid shifters and enjoyed 'playing' with their wolf forms.
"I came because something's happened. Have you seen the news?"
"No."
Tammy reached for the remote and clicked on the television. A newscaster flickered to life on the screen, with the image of a body in the woods behind her. "…body found late this morning in the shallow waters of Lake Osmead. It appears to be another animal attack like those that took the lives of three teens earlier this week. The question on everyone's mind, of course, is what is causing these deaths, and how do we keep our children safe?"
I muted the television. "So, Ryder didn't do all the killings? He's not the Beast?"
Sun glinted through the leaves of the tall trees reaching toward each other above the dirt road as we made our way to Lake Osmead. I drove with Tammy in the front and Dean in the backseat leaning in to talk to us.
"What's the plan when we get there?" He smiled and the dimple in his chin deepened. All three O'Conner siblings had black hair with too-blue eyes, but the twins looked most alike with their dimpled chins and mischievous smiles. You would never know by talking to Dean that he'd spent time in a demon dimension enduring unspeakable torture. He carried joy with him, and was a flirt with everyone. You'd also never guess that Rose had been the one to send him there. He loved his sister-in-law like a sister and teased her like he did his twin.
I adored him and was grateful both had chosen to accompany me to the scene of the crime. "I'm going to do some mind-snooping," I said. "I need you two to sniff around and see what you can find. We need to find out when this murder happened. If there's a chance Ryder didn't kill the other kids, then we have a huge problem."
As we pulled up, I scanned the area and spotted agents in familiar black suits that I hadn't seen on television.
The red police tape kept us from getting too close to the scene, but my mind picked up a mental signature I knew well.
A handsome man with green cat-like eyes and dark hair streaked with silver walked up, a smile on his face. "Sam!"
He held the tape up for us and I hugged him. "Hi, Hunter. Lucy didn't mention you were here."
"She doesn't know. I didn't know until we actually got here. So it'll be a surprise." His thoughts flickered through my mind, tender thoughts of Lucy and their time together. I blocked him before I got too many details of their 'time.'
I introduced Tammy and Dean and followed Hunter to a more remote area for privacy. "So, IPI is investigating the paranormal murders?"
Hunter had come into our lives when IPI helped take down Rent-A-Kid. As an international paranormal investigator, he was uniquely skilled to help track down whoever was doing this, if it wasn't Ryder.
I told him about Ryder and Drake and our suspicions.
"God, Sam, I'm so sorry. Is Drake going to be okay?"
His concern was real, but I didn't want to go into the whole Nephilim thing, so I just nodded.
"When did you take Ryder into custody?" he asked.
"Last night. He's been under lock and key since then." Minus a few minutes, but Beleth had taken care of that.
He shifted his eyes uneasily. "I shouldn't be telling you this, but the body suffered some decomposition, though not a lot. They'll have to do more tests to get a specific time of death. Water always makes it harder. Right now, it looks recent, which would eliminate Ryder as a suspect. But, if it turns out it happened a few days ago, then it could be him."
"I really hope it's him." I shivered despite the warm afternoon. "We don't need another serial killer running around targeting paranormals."
Something rustled in the leaves, and we stopped talking.
A tall man walked up to us, his midnight skin in stark contrast to his pristine white suit. He looked to be in his 50s with life lines etched in his face as he puffed at a cigar. "We're wrapping up the scene and we need you, Agent Riley."
The man glanced at me and smiled, his teeth as white as his suit. "I see we have visitors." He held out his hand. "I'm Agent White."
"Sam Davis. Nice to meet you." His eyebrow rose in surprise. "I know you. I read your report at IPI after you helped destroy your old school."
"And what did those reports say?"
"Strong willed, compassionate, and manipulative. Hard to keep things from a girl who reads minds." He chuckled.
"Secrets are overrated," I said.
He dropped my hand. "So they are."
"How are things going with that little school you and your friends started? Have you found a name yet?" He had a gentlemanly way about him, but it came across as slightly condescending, which didn't settle well with me.
"We picked one," I said. "Elysium."
"How'd you know they were picking a name?" Dean asked, posturing with his shoulders pumped and arms crossed.
"Because IPI's been keeping tabs on us," I said, reading Agent White's mind as I stared at the agent, reminding him I wasn't one to lie to or try to keep secrets from.
"Good, very good," Agent White said, seeming impressed.
/> Tammy stood closer to her brother. "What do you think is causing these deaths?"
"Something animal-like," he said. "Something that makes a home nearby." He turned to go, but changed his mind and turned back to us, pointing his cigar.
"Hey, Dean, Tammy, you live nearby, don't you? And you're both wolf shifters, if I'm not mistaken?"
My body tensed and Dean and Tammy paled.
"We had nothing to do with this," Tammy said.
"We'll see," Agent White said. "We'll see. But right now—"
"Right now," I said, interrupting him as I looked at my friends, "you're his top suspects."
TWENTY THREE
The Very Ecstasy Of Love
ROSE
This is the very ecstasy of love.
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet
TRAVELING VIA JET was an addicting experience. Commercial flying would likely never live up after this. It would have been perfect had my husband been speaking more than monosyllabic words to me.
Despite his bad mood, as we drove through the streets of Rome on our way to Vatican City, I couldn't suppress a shiver of excitement. I was in Rome! And I was about to sleep at the Vatican.
That unnerved me a bit, and I forced Derek to hold my hand as I stared out the car window. Streets older than my country wound through colorful buildings as children played ball and adults shopped for fresh produce at the open market.
According to some quick research on my phone's internet, the Vatican City was actually a sovereign city-state consisting of a walled enclave within the city of Rome. At 110 acres with only 840 citizens, it was the smallest recognized independent state in the world in both size and population. Despite its size, it hosted some of the most famous art in the world, including St. Peter's Basilica and the Sistine Chapel.
If Sam hadn't been so worried about Drake, she'd have been jealous we were coming to Rome. Though I doubted we'd have time to do much sightseeing.
We entered the enclave and I soaked up the local culture as it flew by me. Before too long we were pulling up to a side entrance to the Vatican.
I wasn't religious, and certainly not Catholic, but the majesty of this place took my breath away, and I had to resist the urge to supplicate myself and beg forgiveness for my sins. To think that area was considered sacred even before the Catholic Church built the Vatican here. I could almost feel the magic humming in the earth, something ancient and powerful, something I suspected the Church had been feeding off for a long time to secure their own position of power.
Bishop Alaric escorted us through the Vatican as if we weren't standing on holy ground. Since he lived here, I guessed it was just another day at home, or work, for him. Gold and jewels, paintings and sculptures, elaborate wall hangings and rugs, all spiraled into heaven along intricate staircases. That's what I remembered of that walk to our room.
Guards carried our bags and as we reached a deeper part of the building, up several flights of stairs, I stiffened. A stronger magic attacked me, burning through my body.
Derek gripped my hand, his eyes concerned. "What's happening?"
"There's power here. Great power. It's… testing me, I think."
Derek turned on Alaric. "What are you doing to her?"
"I'm not doing anything to her." He stepped closer and placed a hand on my shoulder, eyes falling closed. Shuddering, he pulled his hand away and the power left me, without so much as a whisper of it remaining. I almost thought I'd imagined it.
"The guards will escort you to your room." His eyes shifted nervously around the room. "I need to meet with the Lycan council to arrange for Ryder's trial."
Derek growled. "What was that?"
Alaric looked down, fidgeting with his cross. "Perhaps, maybe—you see, we weren't the first ones to use this land. Rose's power may have tapped into something… deeper. Something we don't ever talk about here, and I suggest you don't either."
With that enigmatic proclamation, he turned on his heel and disappeared down the hall.
The guards led us to a large bedroom with a sitting room, fireplace and private bathroom. A serving girl was airing out pillows and scurried off when we arrived muttering something about bringing us food. I felt a little like royalty, but in a scary we-might-be-assassinated kind of way.
Derek asked again about what happened in the hallway, but I had nothing more to tell him. I didn't know, and it probably didn't mean anything. Just a magical vibe that swept through me and left.
He didn't seem satisfied with that answer, but left me to my unpacking while he took a shower.
I sat on the bed, listening to the water, thinking about my sexy naked husband, and knew I couldn't let this tension between us continue.
Dropping my bag on the floor, I pulled off my clothes and slipped into the bathroom.
Derek looked up in surprise when I pulled back the curtain. "Rose, what are you doing?"
Without speaking, I stepped into the large shower and knelt.
"Rose, not right now."
His protests, weak as they were, did not dissuade my intent.
And I filled my mouth with his cock, sucking and stroking until he moaned and tangled his fingers in my hair.
As he stiffened, hardening and lengthening in my mouth, I sucked harder, licking the head and sliding my tongue down his shaft, cupping his balls in my mouth as I stroked him faster and harder.
I wanted him to come in my mouth, to taste him as he released into me, but he grew impatient and instead pulled me up, pushing his hard body against me as he kissed me deeply, biting at my lip as his hands explored my curves and fingers dipped into my wet center.
It was my turn to moan, and he thrust two fingers into me while rubbing a rough thumb against my swollen clit.
As the pressure built, my muscles clenching, he turned me around and spread my legs with his, angling his cock until he could shove it into my aching pussy. We found a rhythm and fucked against the bathroom wall in the Vatican. While priests prayed, we worshiped in our own way. With our bodies. With our love.
Water streamed down my back, his teeth biting into my shoulder as we both came, releasing ourselves into the wild ecstasy that rode us with each orgasmic shudder.
Making love to him was like falling into infinity—losing myself, only to find that I am more than I even thought I was.
We didn't use words, just looks and kisses and gentle touches as we toweled off and crawled into bed naked together.
I was nodding to sleep when he broke the silence with a question that no longer held accusation, just genuine desire to understand. "Why do you want Ryder to face trial?"
Shifting so I could see his face, with my chin resting on my hands over his chest, I answered as best I could, sorting through my feelings as I spoke. "What looks black and white and easy to judge isn't always the case. My mother convinced me you and your family were evil, that you were attacking us, threatening us and our way of life. I believed her, because I didn't take the time to investigate the truth for myself, to see all of the angles."
"But we saw Ryder attack Drake," he said.
"Yes, we did. But I also saw, or thought I saw, Dean attack my mother." I shuddered, remembering that awful day. I'd nearly killed Dean, and thought I had. He'd gone through literal hell because of me.
Derek saw the darkness in my eyes and kissed my forehead. "No one blames you for that. Not him, not me, not anyone in my family."
"I know. But I blame me. I can't help it, and I don't ever want to rush to conclusions again. I want to find out why he did what he did. I want the whole story, and right now, this trial is the only way."
Derek stared at something unseen, his thoughts lost to me. "I understand better why you wanted to come. I'm not sure I agree, but I do understand. And I love you."
I sighed, sinking back into his arms. "I love you, too."
A knock at the door woke me, though I hadn't realized I'd fallen back asleep. Derek pulled away from me and pulled his jeans and a shirt on to answer it.
/> I heard the bishop speaking. "It’s time for the trial. We need you."
TWENTY FOUR
And It Must Follow
ROSE
And it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man
— William Shakespeare, Hamlet
I COULDN'T HAVE gotten back to our room if I'd tried. We turned so many corners, walked through so many halls, climbed down so many staircases, that even with wolf senses I was lost. Plus, everything smelled like incense and it made my nose tickle so much that I probably looked a Bewitched character, crinkling my nose to work spells.
The deeper into the heart of the Vatican we went, the stronger the power beneath it thrummed through me. Also, I started to feel a little bit like I was in a movie that involved demon possession and crazy priests and maybe the anti-Christ. It had that vibe.
The final staircase we climbed down spiraled like a child's toy, round and round until we stood in front of large, intricately carved arched double doors with a series of custom bolts and locks holding them closed.
The carvings depicted wolves battling demons and reminded me of a cross between ancient cave drawings of hunting parties and Rodin's “Gates of Hell.”
Bishop Alaric pulled out a key the size of his hand, old and rusted from years of use, and pushed it into the lock. As he turned, the door unlocked itself from the middle, top and bottom, with clicks and the sound of metal shifting.
In the center of a circular, windowless room lay Ryder, chained hand and foot to the floor like a sacrifice as he faced the steeple ceiling that pointed to heaven. Looking more closely I realized his body conformed to the shape of the pentagram carved in gold on the ground below him. His feet, hands and head rested on each of the five points of the star.
And he was naked.
I turned away from him and studied the men—I assumed men, though I couldn't be sure of sex—who formed a half-circle across from us. They each stood at a podium and wore long red robes that masked their faces in shadows.
