Love Beyond Sight

by Rebecca Royce

  * * * *

  Samuel came to with a start. He was flat on his back. Flinching, he tried to sit up and gentle hands pushed him back down.

  "Easy now." Eden looked down at him and he realized his head rested in her lap. "You had a hard time. It really knocked you out."

  Footsteps approached and seconds later a man with shoulder-length brown hair regarded him. "You okay, bro? It hits everyone differently."

  Pushing past Eden's embrace, he made himself sit up. He wasn't going to start out in a vulnerable position.

  Eden started to object. "Samuel…"

  He'd already gotten into a sitting position by the time she got the word out. Staring at Gabriel, he held the other man's gaze. "I'm fine and I'm not your 'bro'."

  "Ha." Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. "Easy, tiger. I mean no harm and we're the closest thing you'll ever have to real family. We're all freaks together."

  Eden made a sound of disgust. "Ignore him. He likes to be provocative. At least that's what Loraine always says."

  "Loraine shouldn't be giving away all my secrets. You girls… you talk and we guys have no privacy." He held out his hand to Samuel and for a moment Samuel considered not taking it. Begrudgingly, he let the other guy help him stand up. As unsteady as he was there was no way he would win in any macho contest at that moment.

  "Careful with this one, Samuel. These Outsider women, they like to whisper to each other."

  Eden stood up behind him. "Stop that, Gabriel. He's just woken up and it's… complicated between us."

  "To say the least." If he sounded bitter, he wasn't sorry. First Fate took his face, now it had dropped him in New Orleans with no chance of real happiness. Even he could only pretend to be pleased for so long. "So, we're here. Let's get whatever I came here to do over with."

  Gabriel grinned. "I love it. You've got a chip on your shoulder so big you might fall over from it. Welcome to the family. You fit right in."

  Samuel wanted to punch him.

  Chapter Nine

  Sebastian stepped out into the snowstorm, pulling his ski hat farther down on his head. He hated the snow. Never once had he regretted choosing to live in the southern half of the United States. New Orleans had proven to be all he could have wanted and more. Everyone there was used to weird things. If a person seemed a bit off, no one gave it a second thought.

  Somewhere more conservative, he might have found himself having to explain his odd behavior more frequently. He hated the snow. Still, he trudged forward. Eden's presence had left him and he wanted to know if it was simply that he was being blocked by the influx of bad weather or if the pathetic Outsider had somehow managed to get away even amidst the white mess currently blanketing the east coast the United States.

  He also had a second reason for wanting to put some space between Alexa and himself. It was time for him to eat, and if he spent any more time in Alexa's company, he was going to have to feed on her. That wouldn't do him any good. He still needed the bitch to locate all of her kin. Once she'd done that, he would suck her blood through a straw.

  It was getting harder and harder to resist. The night before when they'd fucked until she couldn't see straight and he was out of his mind with boredom, he had almost reached down and eaten her right there. Sebastian felt proud of his self-control. His father would be pleased. The last dimension he'd taken over he hadn't maintained his cool very well and the old man had lots to say on the subject. This time, no one would doubt his ability to maintain a level of decorum up to the family's standards.

  It was hard being from the most prestigious family of evildoers ever created. That kind of pedigree left no room for fucking up.

  A man walked on the sidewalk a distance away. Head down, he stared at his feet as he made it through the sludge. Some of the snow seemed to be changing to rain, which meant everything was going to get slushy. In his right hand, the downtrodden fellow held a snow shovel.

  "Hey," Sebastian called, increasing his pace to catch up.

  The man heard him over the slight howl of the wind and turned around. "Yeah?"

  Sebastian grinned. "Are you doing driveways?" He pointed to the man's shovel.

  "I am. You looking for someone? I charge ten dollars."

  Sometimes it was so easy it wasn't worth the effort. "Wow, you're a downright bargain."

  Sebastian stepped even closer until he could smell the human scent the stranger possessed. It was the familiar smell of easy prey. When he'd been a child, this had been harder but as a good-looking adult who walked like he meant business, everyone always gave him what he wanted. Even their lives.

  "I try not to overcharge. Times are tough but I am providing a service."

  Sebastian grinned. "Why yes, you are."

  * * * *

  Zane took a swig of his coffee and regarded the geriatric woman in front of him. He'd come to visit her every day that week, as she'd requested, and would continue to do so until she gave him the answers he needed.

  He'd admit it. For the first time in a long time he felt freaked out. This woman, who he had wanted to rob and had ended up making friends with, knew things about him that she shouldn't know.

  "Betty, this is delicious." The cinnamon bun he'd placed in his mouth burst with sweet flavor the second it touched his tongue. She could bake too. If she hadn't been ninety years old, he'd marry the woman.

  "Thank you, Zane." She squeezed his cheek with one hand as she poured coffee into a mug that read 'kiss the cook' on it. He blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. Betty really was the most domestic person he'd ever met. Was she truly a billionaire? She didn't fit whatever stereotype he'd formed in his mind about rich old ladies wearing diamonds and ordering their domestics about. Maybe he watched too much television.

  "Would you please tell me now exactly what it is that I am and how it is that you know this?"

  It had been weird enough that she'd known about his ability to control people with his voice. She'd known about the other things too, the small things he encountered. The ghosts, the feelings, the sense that someone searched for him.

  Betty had systematically listed everything about him off in a matter of seconds before removing him from her safe and feeding him pasta. He'd come over every night since and she hadn't told him anything else, although she claimed to be aware of a great deal more about him.

  "I will tell you all about it." She sat down across from him. "Are you sure you don't want something else to eat besides the cinnamon bun? I can make anything you'd like."

  "If you keep feeding me, I won't be able to continue in the work I do."

  She nodded, her wrinkled face lighting up with amusement. "Making safes and systematically breaking into them whenever you're paid to do so."

  "More or less." He took another bite, letting the flavors wash over his tongue. He couldn't help but think that this was what it would have been like to have a grandmother. Foster care didn't provide pseudo-grandmothers. At least not for him. He'd always known he was simply a visitor in whatever home he had landed in. "Speaking of which?"

  "Oh, yes." She handed him the sheet of paper he'd needed. "You need this or your clients are going to kill you." Her blue eyes danced with amusement. "Like they could. Outsiders are hard to get rid of."

  "Outsiders?" He always had to be careful with how hard he pushed her. "In any case, I'd prefer to hand over the will, regardless. I have a reputation to uphold." He took another bite, wondering if he could actually stop eating the delicious snack.

  "With your brains you could do anything in the world. Why crime?" She stirred her coffee. "Of course, you'll have to wait to change careers until after you've helped dispose of the demon."

  He spit out his roll, covering the action with a cough and a quick covering of his mouth with his hand.

  Finally, he could speak. "What?"

  Betty stroked his hand beneath hers. "You've had a hard time, haven't you, dear?"

  "Lots of people have it worse."

  Sh
e shook her head. "Not much worse. But it was all preparation for this time, for the moment when you would become who you were born to be."

  "How do you know this?" And why he listened to it was really the question. Maybe his first feelings about this woman had been correct; maybe she really was a lunatic.

  "Because an angel came to me when I was sixty years old and told me you would come to me. He told me what to tell you, the questions you would have, and where I should lead you."

  Zane swallowed. "An angel?" He didn't know much about the bible, god, or anything like it. He'd always had to be a here-and-now kind of person. Whatever came next came next. He'd face it then.

  "He said you were his son and I had to tell you all about what was going to happen to you."

  He sat back in his chair and tried to look amused even as anger surged through his bloodstream. "That's funny because I didn't know drug addicted losers who abandoned babies on the street got to go to heaven and become angels."

  * * * *

  Alexa sat down at her computer, determined to, for once, listen to her gut. She needed to speak to Gabriel Ward and she needed to do it now. Her hands shook as she typed and she made a mental note to find a doctor when she got back home. She'd never been sick a day in her life but lately things had gone askew for her.

  Gabriel had changed his phone number. She knew because she had tried to call him half-a-dozen times since their big fight. He'd left and she'd not heard from him since. There was no question she'd overreacted but as her oldest friend—brother really—shouldn't he have given her a chance to atone? She bit down on her lip. Maybe it was the new girlfriend, Loraine, the pretty girl with the red hair. Maybe she didn't like him having female friends.

  The only thing Alexa could hope was that he hadn't changed his e-mail address. She pulled up her mailbox and started to type quickly. The hairs stood up on the back of her neck and she wondered if Sebastian was on his way back. He wouldn't like her contacting Gabriel. She shook her head. If she wanted to reach out to Gabe, she would reach out to him. No way, no how would she become one of those women who was controlled by their boyfriends.

  It wasn't so much that Bastian controlled her. No, it was more like she somehow always ended up doing what he wanted her to do. Even when she wasn't exactly sure how that happened.

  Dear Gabriel

  I bet you didn't expect to hear from me and, frankly, I'm not even sure that you're going to get this message because you have cut yourself off so completely that I can't even reach you anymore. Did you do this because of the cult you are involved in wanted you to? Or because of Loraine? How are things going?

  I can't believe we've reached this point in our relationship where we aren't even speaking. We were the two street rats who swore we'd make a better life for ourselves. How can we now not know each other?

  Please be in touch, Gabe. I feel so weird. Like something is really not right with me.

  Lexi.

  Her neck tingled again and she turned around expecting to see Sebastian standing behind her. No one was there. Standing, she walked to the window. The snow seemed to be slowing down. She grinned at the sight. Wanting to look cool, she hadn't made a big fuss about it when it had started. Sebastian was so much worldlier than she was. For years now she'd tried not to look like the stupid uneducated girl from the streets that his parents had fostered. She wanted them, particularly, if this relationship was going to work, to be on equal footing.

  But this was the very first time she'd ever seen snow. It looked like a giant wave had blanketed the earth in the purest, brightest white light she'd ever seen. Like the divine had swept a hand over the earth to make everything start over, to make it all pure again.

  She placed her head against the window and closed her eyes. Not that she much cared for the cold that came with it. Alexa held no doubt that she was a warm weather kind of girl. Her blood wasn't designed for frigid temperatures. It was far too thin.

  Closing her eyes, she sent her powers out into the universe. It had been so long since she'd used them. So long since she'd had the energy to even try. Not that she had much of that at the moment. But she wanted to find Gabe. She'd always been able to and she hoped nothing had changed in that respect.

  She'd never really understood why she could locate all the members of the cult the way she could. Sebastian couldn't explain it either except to tell her that clearly the universe wanted her to help take down the Satan-worshiping group.

  How could Gabriel have fallen for their antics? A breeze whispered by her neck and she whirled around again, her power flaring. She'd been searching for Gabe but now her power pulsed with something else. It was a person, a member of the cult, and if she read her abilities correctly then they were in the room with her. "Who's there?"

  Her voice sounded hoarse and she threw herself backward against the wall. She had no ability to fight them. If one of them was here, she was in really bad trouble.

  * * * *

  Where the hell am I?

  Leonardo looked around the strange room before he noticed the woman leaning up against the back of the wall with the terrified look on her face. Her eyes were huge and she gripped the wall behind her like it might offer her support from some unknown assailant.

  "Hello."

  She didn't answer him or even acknowledge that she'd heard him. He looked down at himself. Everything about him appeared normal so why did he feel so out of sync? It was almost as if the universe moved in one direction and he moved in the other. His body struggled to keep him where he was.

  Strange.

  He took a step toward the unknown person. She had to be the loveliest individual he'd ever encountered. With dark brown hair, almost black, that fell to her shoulders, she reminded him of a creature of the night. Sunlight didn't belong on her dark locks. No, only moonlight should caress her body. The rays of the unforgiving sun should never burn her pale skin.

  Leonardo took a step back. What the fuck was wrong with him? He didn't think poetically about anyone, let alone strangers who couldn't seem to hear him. Unless…

  She was the one. In front of him must be his soul mate. Outsiders only got worked up physically about their other halves and right now his cock hardened so much in his pants that he flinched from the pain of it.

  This was the woman he'd gone to New Orleans to find. Whatever other reasons—and the notes on Abraxas's journals were important—his real agenda had been to locate his soul mate and remove her from the demon. Otherwise, the feelings he'd been getting lately when he lay alone in his room at night had told him, he would lose her. Somehow, he had to rescue her before it was too late.

  New Orleans… the thought made his mind stutter. That was the last place he had been. How had he gotten here—and where was here? He looked around, his gaze finally landing on the window. Snow. Was he back in Maine? Had he come home and he couldn't remember?

  No. There had been an explosion. Something happened to him. He'd been struck down, hit the ground, and there had been pain—tremendous agony. As he rubbed his arms to make the goosebumps go back down, he looked around the room. This was a hotel and his soul mate was here. That he was sure about.

  Was he dead?

  He rushed forward toward the woman—Alexa—he knew her name because Gabriel had told it to him. "Can you hear me?"

  She didn't answer and he tried to grab her. His hand moved right through her. Oh damn. He was dead. Had to be the answer to what was happening. The fucking demon had killed him and now he'd failed everyone.

  Leonardo sunk to the floor. He closed his eyes. Feeling dejected wasn't something he let himself wallow in for very long but these were extenuating circumstances. He'd died.

  "Whoever you are, please don't hurt me."

  Hurt her? He couldn't even touch her. He laughed aloud just to hear the sound of his own voice.

  "I know you're here. I'm attuned to your cult."

  Cult? Oh that was right. Gabriel said Sebastian had led them to believe that the Outsiders were
a cult worshiping the devil. Sebastian was a sneaky bastard, which made sense considering he was a demon.

  "I can feel you."

  She could feel him? His head shot up. That was great news. Alexa could zoom in on their energies. She was his soul mate. The other half of himself, the completion of his powers. Together they made a Unit. He could make her stronger and she would do the same for him.

  Alexa dealt in energies. So did he. He increased the energy of everyone else's powers. He could take energy. If she could feel his, and apparently she could, that meant he still had some. He hoped and, although he never did, prayed that meant that he wasn't dead. Sure something had happened to him, something that had thrown his consciousness to her, but it didn't mean death.

  His friends would find a way to get him back. They would. Or maybe Eden had foreseen this happening. He hoped she was fine. They'd let her go off on her own. Maybe that had been the wrong move. She was delicate, like Charma had once been, and she needed protection.

  Ah… hell. He made so many mistakes.

  The door swung open and a man walked in. Leonardo recognized his dark, strong features right away. The demon. Without thought, he stuck himself between Alexa and Sebastian. It took him a minute to realize how fruitless that was. She couldn't see him and he couldn't protect her even if she could.

  "What's wrong, Lexi?"

  Leonardo shuddered at the sound of that creature saying his soul mate's name. No, not her name. A distortion of it. A nickname that he didn't think particularly fit the beauty that surrounded her.

  She whispered, "One of them is here."

  Leonardo wished he could tell her not to tell the demon about him. But, in her view, Leonardo was the bad one and Sebastian was on her side.

  Sebastian looked around. "Who is here?"

  "One of them."

  "What?" Sebastian took two steps toward her, which made him walk straight through Leonardo's unseen body. Leonardo didn't feel a thing and he found that to be as weird as anything had been in this odd experience.