Black as Midnight

by Mary Martel

  Insanely, I wondered if this was how Rain felt most days.

  Simon turned me away from the fight and back toward the cottage that was now blazing brightly in the darkness, its loss a devastation so extreme, that even in my empty state of mind tears still trailed silently down my face.

  Quinton had the hose on and aimed at the blaze, not looking to be making any progress whatsoever. Tyson stepped beside his uncle with the fire extinguisher in his hands. He was sweeping it from left to right and then back again, all the while spraying out a white cloud toward the fire. I highly doubted one fire extinguisher was going to do much good, and with the fight still raging on around us, I could understand the need for discretion, which meant no fire trucks to put the monster out of its misery.

  Julian knelt in the grass beside Dash. He had his big, black bag of tricks open at his side and I knew without a shadow of a doubt that Dash would be perfectly fine, because he was about to get the best medical care a witch could grant him.

  Physically, Dash would be fine. Emotionally, I didn't even want to know how he'd feel when he woke up to find his home destroyed.

  I shrugged off Simon's support and slowly, weaving around like a drunken fool with the shadow of my new bodyguard, walked back toward the burning cottage. I stopped about fifteen feet behind the Alexander's, not wanting them to realize I was there with them. They'd both frown on what I was about to do and would try and stop me from doing it.

  Simon's heat crept up behind me as he moved into my side. The heat was the only thing I felt coming from him, I was still too numb for anything to penetrate my senses except for the destruction of the cottage.

  His lips brushed against my ear as he whispered, "Whatever this is that you're thinking of doing, I want you to rethink it. You have this dead look to your eyes that's downright frightening to look at. I've only known you for a day and I know that's not your version of normal. And you can barely stand on your own. I suggest you turn around and walk your pretty ass back to your redheaded friend and stay with him until he heals."

  He thought I was pretty and that now was a good time to share that with me? For the life of me I would never understand males.

  Blessedly, I didn't let his words penetrate and didn't end up blushing like a fool.

  "Aren't bodyguards supposed to be mostly silent?" I asked snottily. I knew as soon as the words left my mouth that I'd regret them later, maybe tomorrow when I felt better, and end up apologizing to him. For now I just didn't have it in me to care.

  His face shut down as he stepped back out of my line of sight, giving me my space.

  I bowed my head and closed my eyes. Blanking my mind came easier than it ever had before, and I felt like I should have been alarmed at that given what was going on around me, but still, I couldn't find it in me to care.

  There was a peacefulness to the emptiness currently inside my head, and it was far easier this way to reach out to the natural magic floating in the air around me. I pulled from the air, from the ground below my bare feet, from my very own body, sucking as much water out as I could get.

  Pressure built and built around me, pressing in on me until it was almost too painful to breathe. My skin began to crack and all the hair on my body rose, sticking up straight. I barely opened my eyes to slits, they refused to open any farther.

  The world around me seemed frozen in time, all except for Simon who was no longer the silent bodyguard I'd asked him to be. He stood at the edge of my invisible bubble, banging his fists against the air and screaming my name uselessly over and over again.

  I had a feeling he was going to regret ever having met me when this day was all said and done. And we were only on day one of having just met, the poor sucker.

  Focusing on the flames licking their way up the outside of the kitchen, I pushed out with everything I had. The bubble I'd created made a loud popping noise as it exploded, rushing toward the cottage.

  I blinked and watched as in slow motion Quinton and Tyson dropped to their stomachs on the ground, both wearing identical looks of horror and awe on their faces. They barely missed the storm that blasted into the side of the house.

  I missed whether or not all that water did what it was supposed to and put out the fire, because from one slow blink to the next, my body careened to the side and I went down face first toward the grass.

  Strong arms caught me before I could bounce my face off the grass. Simon had my back and was looking out for me, even after I had been such an A-hole to him.

  My last thought before the darkness swallowed me whole was that he'd make a mighty fine bodyguard if I actually allowed him to do his job instead of taking things into my own hands.

  I opened my mouth to tell him as much but my mouth refused to open. My body sagged in exhaustion and I blacked out.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I floated, seemingly weightless, as my body came back online with a vengeance. My skin felt as if it was on fire, the burning an unbearable agony that sent me spiraling back into the nothingness, swallowing me whole. My mind’s way of protecting me from the pain my body was in.

  The next time I came out of the darkness was different. There was no more pain, but instead some kind of wetness covered my entire body from head to foot. I knew without a doubt that whatever had been spread all over my naked body was the cause for my skin feeling like it was no longer on fire. It was healing me and I knew Julian was behind this.

  After taking stock of my body in its healing state, and knowing that at least Julian was with me so I'd be safe, I allowed myself to slip back into the darkness. For whatever reason I didn't want to be alone, even if I wasn't conscious.

  Quiet voices are what woke me the final time. I knew they were with me because they were concerned about me, but I remained silent for some reason, not wanting them to know I was awake just yet.

  "How did she know how to do that?" one of the twins whispered. I could never tell who was who when they spoke unless I was looking right at them. "With her magic? To my knowledge, no one’s taught her anything like that."

  "Rain claims it was pure instinct on her part," Quinton whispered back just as quietly. There was a tightness in his voice that I knew I caused and that made me sad. "Says it's in her blood or some other smug shit."

  That made me a whole lot less sad. If Rain was feeling proud of me and smug toward my actions, then it couldn't all be that bad.

  "Speaking of Rain," Julian muttered quietly. "Shouldn't someone be downstairs keeping an eye on him and those brothers? I heard him say something about wanting to check out the basement where his sister had been buried and Tyson agreed to take him down there. Those damn brothers went along because they are following Rain around like they've been struck with some goddamn hero worship where he's concerned or something. It's all very disgusting really."

  I frowned as I shifted restlessly. That sounded absurd to me. Rain didn't like most people, so why would he be okay with my new bodyguards following him around like that? This was way too much crazy for my poor brain to work out at the moment so I shoved the thoughts aside.

  "They're fine," Quinton quietly assured him. "I trust Rain and if he trusts those two, then that's good enough for me. At least for now. They're not going to be a problem for today and since we've already got so many of those, I think you shouldn't worry about it for now and focus on the things you can deal with at the moment. Like getting some rest before you collapse. You've damn near drained yourself dry healing Dash, then Damien, and now our girl."

  "I know, but I really need—"

  Quinton sighed tiredly. "Not buts, Julian. Not right now. I'm barely holding onto my shit and you need to give me this because I can't handle anything else right now. I don't want anybody going home. I want you to stay here with me, with her, where I know it's safe."

  I swallowed thickly, choking down the useless emotions that were threatening to leak out of me in the form of tears. There was so much naked vulnerability in Quinton's voice that it scared me. Had this latest s
tunt of mine finally broken the formidable man? Lord, I hoped not. I didn't need any more guilt heaped onto my shoulders.

  "I don't want to go home anyway," Julian bit out angrily. "I don’t want to be alone and Damien isn't going anywhere at the moment."

  Quinton let out a shuddering breath before cautiously stating, "You don't need to be alone. You can sleep in my bed with me if you want."

  My eyes popped open wide.

  "Why would Julian sleep in bed with you?" I asked in a raspy voice. "He has his own bedroom here like everybody else." If they were going to be sleeping in a bed together, I was almost positive it wasn't something I wanted to miss out on. I would need my phone so I could take a picture of it.

  Quinton's face came into view as he loomed over me. There were dark rings underneath his eyes and I knew just looking at them that he hadn't slept in days. Again, something I knew to be my fault.

  "How long have I been out for?" I rasped.

  His knuckles went to the side of my face and he ever so gently ran the back of them down my scarred cheek.

  "You scared the shit out of me, baby," he whispered in a shaky voice. "You scared the shit out of all of us. Don't you ever do anything like that again."

  The fire. I needed to know if it had been worth it. "Did I at least manage to put out the fire?" I inquired in a voice that trembled. My poor, sweet Dash, that place, the kitchen in particular, had been the only place he'd had any happy memories of his father. And now the kitchen had been entirely destroyed.

  "You put out the fire, baby," Quinton gently assured me, as he dropped his hand from my face. "At a great cost to yourself. You drained yourself completely dry. Not only did you exhaust yourself, but the skin covering your entire body cracked and you looked like you had aged twenty years in the span of minutes. Everyone was afraid to even touch you at first because it looked so painful. Rain carried you out of there because nobody else could stomach doing it. We brought everyone back here and you, Dash, and Damien have been in a protective sleep, healing and rebuilding your strength. You had the worst of it, yet here you are, the first to wake up."

  Quinton's eyes skirted to the side. My head turned to the side on the pillow that was beneath my head and I realized for the first time that I was lying down in a very large, comfortable bed.

  Dash was beside me, tucked underneath the same sheet as me, sound asleep. Damien lay peacefully on the other side of him.

  Why was I always waking up from after being injured and finding myself in this bed with multiple males? That wasn't normal, I tell you.

  "Why are they in bed with me?" I asked curiously, not really caring because I actually liked that they were with me and I wasn't in bed alone. "And why is Julian going to be sleeping with you?"

  I just couldn't let that last part go without getting an answer out of someone.

  "Julian has drained most of his energy healing you all," one of the twins said. I turned my head toward the end of the bed to see which one it was.

  Abel sat at the foot of the bed, watching me carefully. Oddly enough, Addison was missing from the room and not at his twin’s side where I had expected to find him.

  "I know," I replied carefully, not understanding where he was going with this. Was he blaming me or accusing me of purposely causing Julian harm? I would never do such a thing.

  Then again, to be honest, I hadn't really thought much about anyone but myself and Dash when I did what I did. I hadn't worried about Julian and the limits he would go to in order to put us all back together again.

  I sought out Julian, knowing he was in the room with us. I found him sitting in a chair beside the door. He was hunched over, elbows on his knees, chin resting on his fist. There was a grayness to his skin that made him look drawn and sick.

  I sat up in bed.

  "Julian, I'm so sorry," I said in a rush, my voice trembling. "I never meant to cause you any harm. Please forgive me."

  Abel's big hand landed on my foot, staying on top of the sheet. He slid it soothingly up my ankle and back down over my foot. Over and over again.

  "That's not what I meant at all by that, pretty girl," Abel murmured quietly, his eyes intense and burning, fixed solely on me. "I don't know what I meant by that, but I do know I didn't mean to upset you. Everyone is on edge and needs to get some sleep."

  I nodded absently before turning back to face Julian. "He's right. You should go and get some sleep... in bed with Quinton?" That last part I was still unsure of.

  "I just wanted to stay and make sure you all were okay before I rested," Julian explained, before standing and stretching. He yawned so big his jaw made a popping sound. "Wake me up if you need me for anything. I'll be just down the hall."

  He headed toward the door but stopped short when I called out his name. He looked at me over his shoulder, his eyebrow arched expectantly.

  "Thank you for taking care of me and for taking care of them as well."

  "We're family," he stated simply, as if it were obvious. "I'm always going to take care of you. It gives me great pleasure to do so." His eyes cut to Quinton. "Don't do me any favors, asshole. If you're uncomfortable sharing a bed with me then you can sleep on the couch or in my empty one."

  Abel snorted before bursting into laughter as Julian strutted out the door as if he wasn't almost drained dry of all his energy.

  "Umm..." I stuttered stupidly. "I still don't get it."

  Abel laughed harder at my lost expression. "How do you not know?" he crowed. "I thought they all told you everything now. This is awesome."

  I scowled at him, not finding anything awesome about this situation, except for maybe the sound of his beautiful laughter which was exactly what I needed to hear. It made my soul feel infinitely lighter than it had in days. I wasn't about to tell him that though.

  "Maybe you wanna leave that for Damien and Julian to explain to her when they feel like it?" Quinton suggested dryly.

  Abel shook his head and grinned happily at Quinton. "Nope, absolutely not. She has a right to know what goes on with her boyfriends. I thought we were all being honest with each other here, you said it was the only way we would be able to maintain a happy, healthy relationship between all of us. Now you want to hold out on her? I don't think so."

  I was so confused and my head was starting to hurt.

  "Someone just tell me what's going on here, then get out before you wake the others," I grumbled at them.

  I didn't like it at all when people kept secrets from me. Just call me a hypocrite already, I don't even care.

  "Julian usually sleeps in bed with Damien when they're home," Abel shared all too happily with me. He gave my foot a gentle squeeze before letting me go and standing up. "Wrap your pretty head around that one."

  He sauntered out of the room, putting an extra sway to his hips that had my eyes dropping down to his ass and watching it as he walked away. I had to admit, only to myself of course, that he and Addison both had very round, lush behinds that I admired as often as they were presented to me. Which was basically every time they turned their backs on me.

  Quinton laughed openly, and this time I did feel my cheeks heat up in embarrassment. He'd just caught me ogling someone else's ass. And he thought it was funny. No, hilarious by the sounds of it.

  Boy, had the times certainly changed. Where had my petty, jealous Uncle Quinton gone and who was this man who'd replaced him? Just how hard had that creep punched me in the face? Was this even real?

  Ignoring his hysterical laughter, I asked, "Did he mean like sleep or sex?"

  The thought of Damien having sex with Julian sent a happy tingle through me, straight down to my core. My nipples hardened as my head filled with images of the two of them doing really dirty things to each other. My imagination knew no bounds—really, since when had I become such a pervert? Hanging around nothing but guys had really changed things for me.

  I looked down at my chest and found the sheet had pooled around my waist when I'd sat up and I was completely naked.

&
nbsp; "Oh my god," I whispered in horror. How had I not realized I was completely naked and my chest on display for all in the room to see? And how had nobody said anything?

  "We've all seen you naked before, baby," Quinton said in a sweet voice.

  The bed beside me dipped with his weight as he sat down beside me.

  Like the gentleman I knew him not to be, he lifted the sheet up, covering my breasts. My hands followed his and I took the sheet from him, clutching it to my chest.

  He smiled sweetly at me. It looked sad on his too tired face.

  "I'm sure they didn't point it out because it didn't feel right to check you out after everything you've just gone through and having just woken up from your healing sleep. They were being respectful of your nudity. We all were because you deserve at least that much from us. I know we are a lot for you to handle sometimes, and it's a wonder to me how well you've adjusted to this new life you've been thrust into, but you need to remember that, at the end of the day, you're the most important thing in all of our lives. They'd never treat you like anything other than a princess. And they would never take advantage of you in the state you were in when you first woke up."

  He shrugged his shoulders casually, like this was all so normal when it absolutely was not. Maybe I had no idea what normal was anymore.

  "And, like I originally said, we've all seen you naked before. Is it a pretty sight? Absolutely. Do we all wanna see more of it? You bet your sweet ass we do. But was now the time for that? Nah, definitely not, so they all ignored it for your sake."

  I relaxed. I must have really scared him, because I had never known Quint to not take advantage of a situation where I was concerned.

  Then he went and ruined the moment by saying, "Now, if it had been just the two of us I wouldn't have hesitated getting my mouth on those pretty pink nipples of yours. My dick is semi hard just thinking about it."