by J. N. Colon
My mouth turned dry, and I scrambled away, knocking into the alabaster leg of one.
A rumbling voice penetrated my panicked thoughts. I glanced over my shoulder. Jayson and Kale were marching through the cemetery.
“Something isn’t right,” Jayson growled, his entire body rippling with tension. “I can feel it. She’s afraid.”
“Why would she be here of all places?” Kale asked, his gaze scanning the scenery. “Emily said she was on her way home.”
My heart thudded to a stop. Were they looking for me?
Jayson shook his head. “I need to get her out of here.” Those chameleon eyes finally landed on me, widening. “Lena.” He rushed forward, his hands curling around my arms as he drew me up. “You need to get out of here. Right now.”
I let him push me farther from the angel statues and the mausoleum. “Why? What’s going on?”
A foul smell hit my nose seconds before Jayson cursed. A sense of déjà vu coursed through me, the same reflecting in his eyes.
My gaze shifted behind him, landing on the reason for the terrible stench.
Ice poured through my veins, replacing the blood. My muscles were frozen. The only thing I was capable of doing was staring at the man who wasn’t a man at all.
His head snapped to the side while a sinister smile curled his lips, the skin splitting all the way to his ears. He hunched forward, his spine twisting and cracking with sickening pops. Moments later, his skin shed, revealing scales the color of intense red clay. Onyx horns curled from his temples, matching the claws on each long finger. Slitted, crimson eyes completed the unholy picture.
Chapter 17
The monster—no, demon—was eating up the ground toward us, a forked tongue flicking out.
“Don’t let them cross over with the totem!” Kale charged another creature that had emerged from the shadows.
Jayson whipped out a silver sword from thin air and spun around, slashing at the monster with red scales. That luminescent halo appeared around him, shimmering in and out of focus.
My muscles took the unfortunate opportunity to unstick, and I stumbled backward, falling against a headstone. Pain ripped across my palm and wrist. Blood spilled from the gash.
Perfect time to cut myself.
Not really a big problem in the grand scheme of things when demons were attacking you.
From the ground, I watched Jayson swing his sword, catching the demon across his chest. A growl vibrated through the air as black oozed down the wound. Claws swiped at Jayson, barely missing his side.
The demon grabbed the leather pouch he’d dropped as he fought Jayson and ran toward the mausoleum, his sinister eyes locked on the door.
A gasp escaped my mouth as cracks webbed across the iron. A hole quickly formed in the center, the edges a radiant crimson. A foul odor clouded the air, choking me.
My nightmare was coming to life. Someone should go ahead and cue Freddy Krueger.
Jayson cursed as he sprinted after the beast. He caught him in the arm and whirled him around. Pure gold locked with crimson, battling for dominance.
“Astaroth will have the totem,” the demon snarled, struggling in Jayson’s unyielding grasp.
Jayson swung the sword through the air and decapitated the beast in one swift slice. He spun around, his molten gold eyes searching for me.
The rest of the world fell away. All I saw was him. He was light in an ocean of darkness.
Jayson marched forward, pulling me up. His expression was tight. Was he afraid? He didn’t tell me to run this time. He didn’t speak at all. He gave my arms one good squeeze before pivoting and slashing his sword at another demon.
My heart battled with my ribs to be free. Adrenaline seeped through my body, masking the searing in my hand. The world as I knew it was falling apart. Lies disintegrated, revealing the ugly truth.
My stomach clenched. Was it too late to stitch the lies back together?
Kale appeared, lifting his sword toward the beast, ready to attack. Jayson beat him to it, cutting the demon down. It fell with a massive crash. Onyx blood oozed from his fatal wound.
The cemetery was suddenly quiet except for my ragged breaths. I skimmed the area, the shadows still.
It was over.
I hadn’t realized Jayson was calling my name until hands gently turned my face, tingles of warmth spreading between our skin. I found myself staring into a pair of radiant gold irises.
“Lena, are you all right?”
I wasn’t sure how much time passed as I stared at him and then looked around at the three beheaded demons. My mind didn’t want to believe what was in front of me or what it meant.
My nightmare had been real. The demon delivered a mortal blow. And Jayson had yanked me back from the edge of oblivion.
He’d also kept it from me.
I pushed him off. “This whole time,” I hissed. “You made me think I was going crazy. You made me think it didn’t happen.” My hand laid on my chest where the demon’s claws had run deep. “It was real.”
Jayson took a step closer. “I’m sorry. I thought it was better this way.”
A dry, humorless laugh fell from my lips. “Better for you or me?”
“I didn’t want you finding out like this.” He tried to reach for me, but his hand dropped when I flinched. “I wanted to slowly tell you the truth.”
“Bull shit! I almost died. I was dying…” My words fell off as I recalled the memory of Jayson healing me. “What did you do?”
Blood. A kiss. Warmth. Safety.
My lungs heaved, my breath frantic and uncontrollable. I touched my chest again, clawing at the spot.
Jayson pulled my fingers away, stopping me from doing any harm. “I did what I had to,” he growled, his eyes flaring bright gold. “I made a choice, and I saved you. And then I made another choice and let you think you had a normal life for a little longer.”
A normal life.
His words burned in my mind, making me almost wish I could go back to being in the dark. Nothing in my life would ever be normal again.
I rapidly blinked to keep the burning tears from spilling free. I didn’t want to cry in front of him. I didn’t want him to know how much his lies hurt me.
“You’re bleeding.” Jayson examined the gash on my hand, his lips thinning. He ripped off the bottom half of his undershirt and began wrapping it around my hand and wrist.
Well, that wasn’t the least bit sexy.
Yeah, right.
“Jayson, we really need to get rid of this before any come to retrieve it.” Kale picked up the leather bag.
My gaze shifted to the iron door of the mausoleum. It was solid again.
“I’ll call Emily,” Kale said, jerking his chin toward me. “You take care of Lena.”
Jayson’s mouth opened as if to protest, but he shook his head. “Okay.” He gently grabbed my other elbow. “Let’s go.”
The shock finally shattered, and I yanked out of his grasp. I sucked air as pain lanced through my hand. “Do you really think I want to go anywhere with you? The guy who lied to me and made me think I was going crazy?”
Jayson’s jaw flexed. “I’m not letting you walk home alone. Anything could happen.”
The menacing old man spilled into my thoughts, his ominous smile sending shivers down my back. Maybe the lying asshat had a point.
“Fine, but you better start talking.” I shifted away when he tried to reach for me. “I can walk on my own.”
Jayson Casteel wasn’t a big talker. Who knew? Once we arrived at his house, he silently motioned me up the stairs. I suddenly found myself standing in the center of his bedroom.
A flutter ran through my heart. That salty ocean scent was thick in the air, making my knees tremble. My gaze trailed the weight bench I’d seen him use several times. Emerald and aqua covers neatly enveloped his massive bed. I licked my lips. All sorts of naughty thoughts flooded my mind.
“Have a seat. I’ll be right back.” Jayson disappeared out t
he door.
Being in Jayson’s room was an entirely different experience than seeing it from the window across the street. Every nerve ending was alive, and my skin was warm. Too warm. Even though he wasn’t in the room, he still felt so close I could reach out and touch him.
What had he done to me? It wasn’t as simple as healing my fatal wounds. Kale had said the word bond.
I shook the memories off before I went into full on freak out mode. My legs hit the edge of the mattress, and I sank onto his bed. His scent perfumed around me, soaking into my senses. If I sat here long enough, would my clothes and hair smell like him?
My fingers snatched a pillow, and I brought it to my face, inhaling the glorious aroma that coated it. Warmth shivered through my insides as my lids drifted closed.
My imagination went wild with images of Jayson and me, his dirty blond hair falling into his burning chameleon eyes. Sculpted muscles moved beneath his clothes, coiling and stretching with every breath he took. Strong hands skimmed over my back, pulling me toward him. Lips as soft as silk yet firm against mine.
The needle ripped across the record, and I snapped out of my lusty daydream, tossing the pillow aside like it alone had caused it. And the bed. It was the bed’s fault.
Jayson reappeared with a first aid kit. He grabbed the cushy chair in the corner and dragged it to the edge of the bed, folding down. He leaned forward and gently began sliding my jacket off, his warm breath dusting my face. My betraying body shivered. It didn’t go unnoticed by him, his brow arching.
I cleared my throat and ignored the new flush running up my cheeks. “Start talking.”
“Start asking.”
Jerkface.
“Those things were demons, like from Hell, weren’t they?” My voice trembled as images of those monsters bled through my mind.
“Yes.”
Chills scuttled over my back, and I bit my lip to keep it from trembling. That one word confirmed my worst fears. But I’d asked for the truth. And something in Jayson’s tense demeanor told me that was only the tip of the hellacious iceberg.
He took my hand, flipping it over and laying it on his knee. He removed his ripped shirt, wincing at the slice across the fleshy part of my thumb and down my wrist.
“Do you think I need stitches?” I asked.
His gaze wouldn’t meet mine as he grabbed a damp rag and began wiping the blood off. “I can’t take you to the hospital unless it’s really dire.”
I swallowed hard. “Why?”
Several moments passed before he answered. “Because you’re different now.”
Ice coiled around my bones. That old man said the same thing. Jayson had done something to me that made me so different he didn’t want my blood or anything in the hands of medical professionals.
Holy effing cow-tipping. What had this guy done to me?
My chest heaved up and down too fast as panic began to consume me. “Jayson, this is really bad. You do realize I injure myself all the time.” I motioned toward the hand he was cradling. “You’re telling me if I trip and break my leg, I can’t go to the hospital and get a cast? If I crack my head open, oh well, no x-rays or stitches for Lena. I’ll just have to take it like a champ and hope for the best?”
“Calm down.” Jayson reached up, cupping the back of my neck. His touch made my body tingle. “I didn’t say that.” His thumb made gentle swirling motions. “I didn’t say you couldn’t. It just wouldn’t be ideal, but I’d take care of it.” His hazel eyes bored into mine, and I tried to focus on the flecks of gold instead of the pressure sitting on my chest.
“You’d take care of it?” My voice was a high-pitched squeak. I pictured him sneaking into the hospital, destroying all evidence of me with some freaky powers.
He nodded. “And, now that you’re different, you’ll heal faster.”
My eyes widened. “Are you telling me I’m like Wolverine?”
He grimaced and motioned toward my wounded hand. “Not that fast. Just faster than normal.”
“Oh.” Too bad. That would have been cool.
Jayson removed his hand from my neck now that I wasn’t on the verge of a meltdown. He grabbed a bottle of peroxide and wet a cotton ball. “This is going to sting.”
A little sting was the least of my problems. “Was Tyler a demon?” It would make sense. He was creepy to the max.
“Not like the ones in the cemetery.” He tossed the cotton ball in the wastebasket. “He was a human possessed by a lower-level demon called a dweller.”
My body tensed. “Dwellers are those dark spirit things?”
He nodded.
A gasp slipped out. “One of them tried to go up my nose! Was it trying to possess me?” Scenes from The Exorcist played through my mind. Oh, gawd. I could be upchucking split pea soup right now.
“Don’t worry.” Jayson began spreading Neosporin on my cut. “They can’t possess you now.”
Well, look, a silver lining. At least I wouldn’t be tied to a bed any time soon while a priest splashed me with holy water. “What happened to Tyler? Did you get the demon out?” Was that what that black ash had been in the electronics store? Some kind of residue left behind?
“I sent the demon back to Hell.” His jaw flexed. “It was too late to save the human.”
My stomach rolled as the room spun. A groan slipped out, and I grabbed my head with my uninjured hand.
The bed dipped as a warm presence engulfed me. “Lena, maybe you should lie down.”
“You killed someone,” I whispered. It was one thing to kill a scaly demon, but Tyler had been human. He didn’t deserve getting stabbed through the chest with a sword.
Angry heat pulsated from Jayson. “I don’t kill humans, but I’m glad you think so little of me.”
My lids opened, and I glared at him. “You just said you sent him back to Hell. Does that not mean you turned him into a giant shish kabob?”
His nostrils flared. “The dweller had already killed the human. He was walking around in a corpse.”
“Oh.” My shoulders drooped. Maybe I felt a little bad for thinking Jayson was a cold-blooded murderer. “Sorry,” I muttered.
He grabbed some fresh gauze and began wrapping my hand. “The guy in the parking lot was a dweller demon too.” His eyes narrowed. “I didn’t kill him. He left town.”
I watched him for a moment, his fingers deft and gentle. So many questions were running through my mind. I wasn’t sure where to start. “What are you?” My voice was barely audible, but the tensing of his body told me he heard it.
A long sigh drifted out, his gaze glued to my hand. “Nephilim.”
I swallowed hard. The gold eyes, the occasional glowing outline, the demons, the wicked swords…
“You’re a freaking angel!” I screeched. I’d had so many impure thoughts about a heavenly creature. Was I going to hell?
“I’m only half-angel. My other half is human.” He finished applying the bandage to my hand and rested it on his thigh.
“Your friends too?” I asked.
Jayson nodded.
“Can you fly?” Brilliant light in the shape of wings had appeared behind him when he was healing me.
“Nephilim can’t fly. We have wings of light.” He shrugged. “But they only emerge in intense or dire situations.”
That had definitely been a dire situation—at least for me.
My years of Sunday school suddenly came flooding back. “I thought Nephilim were abominations. Monsters even.”
“That was a rumor started to keep humans from tempting angels back when more roamed the Earth.” A sigh drifted out of his mouth. “Lots of things have been manipulated to hide the truth from the world.”
If full angels looked anything like these Nephilim, I could see why a vicious lie was needed to keep my kind from them. “Do you guys ever see your angel parent?”
“No.” Jayson rubbed his chin where a fine shadow was beginning to appear. “Not even the human parent knows it’s had a Nephilim.”
/> My brow arched. “How is that possible? I think I would know if I was getting it on with an angel.” A deep flush instantly blossomed into my cheeks. Holy snickerdoodles. Did I really just say that?
The edges of Jayson’s lips twitched before they settled back into that serious line. “The angels always come in the visage of someone familiar. Angels aren’t supposed to intervene in human affairs unless ordered to. It’s why we, Nephilim, are charged with protecting this realm.”
“How did you know about all this?” I asked, still trying to wrap my head around the whole concept.
“We’re born with the knowledge of what we are, and an older Nephilim comes to train us when we’re young.” Jayson grabbed the first aid kit and stood, placing it on his dresser.
“So you guys hunt demons now?”
“Sort of.” His fingers ran through his hair, drawing the messy strands back from his forehead. “Right now, we’re guarding one of the gates.”
A chill skipped down my spine as I pictured the burning cracks in the iron door of the mausoleum. “Gates to what?” A sinking pit in my gut told me I already knew.
As if he sensed another wave of panic approaching, he sat by me again. “Hell.”
Cold needles swept across my skin. My body slumped. I would have fallen back if Jayson hadn’t put his arm behind me, keeping me upright. His presence was like a soothing balm. I took a few deep breaths, and my mind began to clear.
I recalled Kale’s words as the demon appeared tonight. Don’t let them cross over with the totems. He and Jayson were determined to keep the beast from entering Hell. “Why were you guys trying to stop the demon from going back to hell? Isn’t that where he should go?”
“It’s complicated.” His jaw flexed.
Yeah, there was definitely more to it. But I had something else on my mind, something burning a hole deep inside. “You didn’t just heal me in the cemetery, did you?”
Jayson shook his head, his gaze averting to his scuffed boots. “It was the only way.”
“What exactly did you do?” He was half-angel. I had no idea what he could do.
