I back up until I find Luna and I grab her hand in mine but don’t turn away from the threat in front of me. “Luna, go find Maggie and your mom. And hurry.”
“Okay.” She says quietly and runs to the hallway that leads back into the living room.
The smaller demon eyes her as she exits the standoff, but doesn’t make a move to follow. “Hmmm,” he says. “That’s too bad. I was hoping I’d get the little one.”
“Neither of you is gettin ’ anybody, so shut up.” Neo says cooly beside me. He takes a step forward so he is slightly in front of me, ready to attack.
The smaller demon, with his brown spiky hair and pale white skin looks jittery and dying for a fight. I pull the familiar heat inside my body to my hands, hoping it continues to pay off as it has before.
The bulky one steps closer to us and says something unintelligible to his partner before running straight for me. I gasp but throw my hands up at him, focused on the heat coming off of my hands. As soon as he reaches me, my palms smack his chest and send him flying back into the counter behind him. The sound of granite and wood crumbling beneath his hard body is nearly deafening.
I turn to my left, just as Neo collides with the smaller demon and they burst through the back door, onto the lawn. Cold air rushes into the house from where they busted the door off of its hinges.
My body is warm, and I feel power flow through me. I step closer to the big guy as he gets back to his feet. He roars at me and sidesteps, stalking me. “You’re gonna die little girl.”
I lean forward, ready to brawl like Gavin taught me. “Barron is going to regret sending you. I don’t know why he can’t pick a better challenge.” I taunt him with only a slight shake to my voice. I’m getting braver!
The giant charges me again and I side-step just quick enough to only get a small scratch on my arm from his nails. I spin around and am able to follow his quick movements better than I ever have. He zigzags at me and I throw a fist at his face, connecting, but not with the force I hoped for.
The demon’s head whips to the right from my punch but he turns back around too quick, looking angrier.
A loud bang comes from the living room and the demon turns at the sound. I take the opportunity to jump on his back and wrap my arms around his neck. My arm fits easily in the wide space, considering he is probably three times my size. I pull as tight as I can and pulse as much energy into where my skin touches his.
The demon sucks in a sharp breath and reaches for my arm, but his own arms become too weak. He falls to the floor, all of the liquid draining from his body from my new ability. I don’t let go until he is all the way on his face. I jump off of him and scan the room around me.
There is no other noise in the house. I step through the hole where the back door once was and try to find Neo, but he is nowhere to be seen.
“Neo!” I call out into the night, but only silence greets me.
I give up on him for the moment and run through the house toward the living room, hoping Luna is okay and found the Wiccas. As I turn the corner into the large room I gasp at the sight before me. The room is in worse shape than the kitchen.
The bean bags are torn to shreds across the floor and the front window that has a view of the street is busted. I peer out the missing window and I see my two beautiful Wiccas standing in the grass with Luna tucked behind them and a demon struggling for air in the center of the lawn.
Morgan has a hand stretched out to the female demon, causing her to somehow be unable to breathe. I climb through the window and run to the women.
Luna gasps when she sees me and wraps me in a tight hug. “Oh my goodness, I’m so glad you’re okay!”
I nod against her crazy curly hair. “I’m glad you’re okay too. I was so worried.”
The female demon falls on her face and slowly begins to sink into the earth as it devours her. My heart races at the sight and I have to turn away from it.
Morgan and Aunt Mags both wrap us girls in a hug. Aunt Mags touches my cheek. “Are you okay, hon? Luna said you were up against two of them in the kitchen but when we went to find you, this one broke through Morgan’s window!” Her eyes roam over me as she speaks.
I hold my hands up and do a turn for her so she can see that I’m unharmed. “I’m great. Right now, I’m just worried about Neo. Have you guys seen him?”
They all shake their heads at me and my heart sinks. “I’m going to find him,” I say.
Aunt Mags grabs my hands before I can run off. “Darling, we will all go. Remember, you have people to help you.”
I look around at the women surrounding me and I nod. “Okay, Aunt Mags can come with me. Morgan and Luna, if you two have somewhere safe to go, will you please go there and wait for us?”
“Yes dear. We will go to Cuppy’s Cakes. We have a safe room in the back, in case anything like this ever happened. Ring the doorbell to the shop and we’ll come out, okay?” She smiles at me.
I give them both another hug and grab my mom’s hand. “Let’s go,” I say to her.
We separate from the girls and run down the street toward the lake.
Chapter 11
Aunt Mags and I are stopped in the middle of a dark road and her eyes are closed as she focuses. She told me that she can sense people if she focuses on them completely. She doesn’t know Neo well, so she warned me that it could be difficult but she’d try anyway.
My legs bounce from nervousness and worry for my friend. Fate brought Neo and I together for a reason, and I don’t want to lose him. I scan the area around us. It’s half past eleven and all of the trick-or-treaters have gone home. The houses are all dark on this block and the only sound is the water from the lake that is only two blocks from us.
Aunt Mags opens her eyes and whips her head toward the lake. “That way! On the beach!” she shouts at me and we both take off in a dead sprint.
I run as fast as I can , not realizing that I have to be beating my speed record until I look around and Aunt Mags was left in my dust. I call out for her from my spot on the beach, but get no response.
I turn back to the road, ready to run and find her again when something grabs me from behind. I scream and throw my elbow into my attacker’s belly. They release me with a deep groan, so I spin around to hit them again when I freeze in my spot.
It’s him. My heart leaps in my chest at the man kneeling before me, clutching his likely broken rib. His messy brown hair falls across his forehead and his piercing golden eyes look up at my face, burning into me. My Intended.
“Gavin.” I breathe his name out and fall to my knees in front of him.
He grabs onto me again and pulls me to his body. Without even a “hello” after a month apart, he slams his lips to mine and his hands dive into my hair. I groan against him and wrap my arms around his neck. I pull him to me as much as I can, missing the feel of him more than anything on this earth.
His lips move slowly over mine with determination and power. I slide my hands across his broad shoulders and his muscled chest, wanting to feel everything that I have needed every day of the past month.
Gavin pulls away from me enough to scan my face as tears fall from my eyes. His hands cup the sides of my head and his thumbs wipe the falling tears from my cheek. “Aella.” He whispers to me with flames in his golden eyes. He looks into my eyes and his head tilts slightly to the left. “Your eyes…”
His words are cut off by a sharp cackle coming from behind him. I peer around his shoulder to see two more demons walking toward us, dragging Neo unconscious between them.
The one demon looks to be only sixteen, with evil written across his young face. His black eyes are smaller than the others and his black hair matches his soul. The other demon looks like he could be the boy's father, with light sprinkles of gray in his dark hair and a graying beard on his thick jaw.
“Well, Sam, looks like we found her,” The older one says through thin smiling lips.
The younger one, Sam it seems, is way too happy to be doing th
is gig. He practically bounces down the beach as he holds onto one Neo’s arms, causing my friend to bounce with him.
“Let go of him now!” I yell at them both as I stand to my feet and take a step away from my Intended, hating any separation between us after all this time.
Gavin stands by my side, hopefully still willing to fight with me after what I’ve done to him.
The older demon talks again. “Sure, we’ll let him go. We only needed him to get you down here anyways.”
The two look at one another and then together they toss Neo into the lake. I yell and immediately run after him, scared that he will drown. Gavin reaches for me but doesn’t grab me in time. I dive into the waters after Neo, but I can’t feel him around me.
The demons laugh together, still standing on the shore, and Gavin watches me with fear in his eyes. He calls out to me. “Aella, stop searching with your eyes!” he yells, but I look back at him confused. His eyes connect to mine and he nods. “Just breathe,” he says softer.
I glance down at the cold water around my waist, unable to see past it in the dark night. I close my eyes and breathe slowly like Gavin told me. I stick my hands beneath the water and focus on the heat inside of me. The water around me warms up from my touch and I release some of my power into it, imagining being the water and finding Neo in my depths.
I can feel where he is so I pull at that feeling and a wave of water rises above my head. With the wave, Neo is lifted from the water and washed up onto the sand at Gavin’s feet. I use that water again and a whirlpool flows around my body, gripping onto me and lifting me high into the air. I wave my hands down to the sand and I’m placed gently on the beach as the water from the lake separates from me and flows back where it belongs.
I look down at my dripping body and back at the lake where it sits calm, and seemingly untouched. Neo coughs beside me on the sand and spurts of water shoot from his lips.
“Gavin!” I shout and he comes to my side to help me lift Neo up.
Neo sits and coughs up the rest of the lake water that had been choking him. He turns to the demons still just watching us and growls. “El, those two are here for you. They said they’ll kill you by the lake house that your mom shoulda died in.”
I turn to see the big beautiful house towering beside us and then turn back to the demons. “If you two don’t want to end up below that lake, then you should just leave now.”
They look at one another and then back at me, quiet.
Gavin speaks this time. “Your boss isn’t worth this, fellas. Go now, or die.”
The two demons say something to one another in an unknown language and then both take off down the beach, running like a couple of scared puppies.
My mouth falls open at Gavin and he smiles back at me. “They’re smarter than most, I’ll give them that,” he says as he beams at me.
The three of us stand together and I look between my Intended and my new friend. “So, um… Gavin, this is Neo. He has been helping me since I came to this town.”
Neo nods at Gavin. “Oh, you must be the Intended.” He clicks his tongue. “Well, I’m gonna just start walkin ’ this way.” He turns and heads back up the beach toward the road, where Aunt Mags stands with hands on her hips.
I gasp and run to my mom. “Mom! I’m so sorry I left you!” I practically yell in her ear as I jump into her arms.
She chuckles against me. “Oh, hon. That’s perfectly fine. From what I saw, you didn’t need me one single iota.” She raises her eyebrows at me.
I blush. “Yeah, about that water trick. I’ve never done anything like that before.”
“Yeah, she has,” Neo says simply. “Twice.”
Gavin comes beside me and watches me with sad eyes. “I knew you had it in you,” he says quietly.
My blush deepens as he watches me. Gavin clears his throat and turns to Aunt Mags with an outstretched hand. “Hi Maggie. It’s good to see you.”
She shakes his hand. “I’m glad you could make it. I was wondering what time you’d get here.” She grins at him.
I look between the two of them and my eyebrows shoot up to nearly my hairline. “Wait… I feel like I missed something.”
Aunt Mags shrugs and tilts her head at me. “Sorry, Dear. I called Gavin the second Morgan told me you were here. Of course, I didn’t tell them all that there’d be a demon brawl upon their arrival!”
“All? What do you mean by them all?” I turn to Gavin and he grabs my hand.
“Let’s go see the family,” he says easily. “Kassy and Lex are waiting at your house… Oh, and Liam.”
***
Kassy pulls me into her arms and bawls like a big baby. I am smothered by her long hair so I try to pull my head back but she refuses to let up. I guess there are worse ways to die. I cry along with my sweet friend and feel so complete with her next to me.
“I hate you so much,” she says between sobs.
I pull away from her and my eyes go wide. “What? You hate me?” I say, shocked.
She wipes her tears with the back of her long sleeves and sticks a pouty lip out at me. “Yeah! You were so stupid to run off without us. I hate you for thinking that we didn’t love you enough to stay by your side through this crisis.”
I tilt my head at her. “I’m confused. So, do you love me or hate me?” I ask, actually lost.
“Both.”
I wipe away my own tears and shake my head at her. Oh, I missed this dramatic friend of mine so much. A throat clears behind Kassy and I peek around her to see Liam standing there.
“Hello, when do I get to hug her? I mean, I did just find out that my girlfriend’s best friend is a magical being with super powers, so I’d like to have my moment.” Liam’s voice is music to my ears as he complains.
Kassy reaches behind her and pulls Liam into our hug in the doorway of my temporary “haunted” garden house. Kassy never let me get all the way into the house when Gavin and I arrived. She just jumped me on the top step.
I wiggle out of Liam and Kassy’s arms and look around the room. I find Alexa’s sad face on the tattered couch I’m used to wallowing in. She looks over at me and tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach its usual heights.
I sit down beside her on the couch and place a hand on her leg. “Hey, Alexa. I’m really sorry that I left. I didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of me.”
She nods. “I know why you did it, El. I really get it.” She glances around me at Gavin who is still outside the house, sitting on the front steps. “It’s him that you need to talk to. I practically had to force him to take the coleus, but there were some days where he was sure that he’d find you without it.”
New tears sting my already tired eyes as I think about Gavin being in pain because of me. I hug Alexa and leave her on the couch. Liam kisses me on the head as I walk past him and Kassy to the front door and I smile up at him.
Outside, I shut the door and stand in front of Gavin so his head is level with my belly. “Gavin, can you look at me?” I ask him.
He doesn’t comply, and instead, he pulls my body toward him and rests his head against my abdomen with his hands on either side of my hips. “Don’t start apologizing, okay. I know what Lex said, but I’m fine.”
I run my fingers through his hair, reveling in the feel of it. “I have to apologize, though. For everything. I left you behind, Gavin.” I sigh and stare down at the top of his head. “Aren’t you mad?” I ask, hoping he says no.
Gavin pulls me onto his lap so I straddle his hips and he looks straight into my eyes. My heart races being this close to him again. His hand rubs soothing circles on my back as he watches me. “Yes. I was mad,” he says easily and I suck in a regretful breath. “And then I was sad, and worried, and frustrated.” He closes his eyes.
His eyes open again and a small smile forms on his perfectly plump lips. “But, even when I was angry that you left, I still believed in you. I missed you with all of my heart, but I know you, Aella.” He strokes my cheek with the back of his h
and and the electricity charges me.
I gasp at the feel of it, realizing that our bond is still there. “Gavin,” I breathe his name out. “Can you feel that?”
I bring my hands up to his face and can feel the zing beneath my palms. Gavin smiles wider than before. “Yes, I can feel it.”
I wrap my arms around him again and touch my nose to his. “Would it be okay if I kissed you now and promise you that for the rest of our lives, I will never leave you again? Even if it means, the next trouble that finds me, will find both of us?”
I wait patiently for his response. He rubs his nose back and forth against mine and tightens his hold on me with a deep animalistic growl. “The rest of our lives, huh?” One of his eyebrows raises with his crooked grin. “Make it forever, and you’ve got a deal.”
My lips stretch into the happiest smile of my life and I laugh against my Intended before kissing him with all that I have, sealing my promise. Forever…
Chapter 12
Barron
I watch her small frame as she lay stirring in her bed next to the Seer boy. Her mind is waking in this dream with me, and in only moments she will see me. This room is different from what I have seen before, so I know she must still be in Granbury.
I never expected the young Ganis to possess the power that she does. It was supposed to be a quick death after letting her search for me for a week or so. I did not suspect that Titus would die at her hand. He always showed such strength and gall.
Of course, to my surprise, that other Seer boy helped her. I have no doubt though, that he will fall with her and the rest of them.
Aella stirs again in her sleep and her eyes flutter open. She scans the room around her where her friends all sleep, unwilling to leave her side. I watch as realization crosses her face and she locks eyes with me.
She gasps at the sight of me. “Barron. I can see you!” she states the obvious, as all young ones do nowadays.
I nod, acknowledging her accomplishment to be developed enough to take in the sight of me in her subconscious. “It seems you have come a long way, young one.”
Intended Series Collection: Books 1-6 Page 29
