Chapter 6
Tiara finally let the tears that had been burning her eyes fall. She knew that Zachary and her team wouldn’t let her stay locked up in here. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she was scared out of her wits. Storm had never treated her like this… like she was some kind of diseased freak that needed to be caged.
Zachary stormed through the now open doors and the first thing he saw was Tiara trapped inside Storm’s barrier. However, the fury that took over his rational side nearly fried everything around him when he saw the silent tears running down her cheeks. He turned his head to glare at Storm, his eyes beginning the change from blue to black.
Before he could even issue the threat on the tip of his tongue, the barrier keeping Tiara prisoner vanished. In three long strides, he had Tiara in his arms holding her tightly against him.
“It’s all right,” Zachary whispered into her hair. “I’m here now.”
Jason stood in the doorway with Guy right behind him watching everything unfold. He stepped into the room wondering why Storm felt it necessary to trap Tiara like that. The side of him that wanted to protect Tiara also wanted to rip her away from Zachary’s embrace. He silently growled at the jealous impulse and ignored it.
He couldn’t control the flinch when Craven suddenly appeared beside him looking for all the world like nothing was wrong. He glanced over at the demon with an expression of boredom.
“You and Storm should get along quite nicely.” He said sarcastically.
“Only newbies flinch,” Guy said as he breezed by them, chuckling a little bit.
“Screw off Harry Potter,” Jason growled at him.
Ren leaned closer to Storm, “He’s getting better with the insults.”
Storm kept his face devoid of emotion but he could tell that Ren was trying to release some of his own tension by making the comment. Unfortunately, Storm did not have that luxury… damn, he needed a vacation.
Zachary glared over Tiara’s head at Storm. She had hidden her face against his chest and she had a death grip on his jacket. His mate was scared and he knew exactly who to place the blame… the demon that had vanished after overhearing Storm’s request for his presence… Craven.
His glare shifted to the silver haired demon as he contemplated the ways in which Craven could be killed and let him get away with it.
“What did you mean when you said she isn’t ready yet?” he growled at Craven. “You knew this was coming… didn’t you?”
Craven turned his head in Zachary’s direction, “It was only a warning… a possibility perhaps… but nothing is set in stone.”
“He only knew because I gave him a hint,” Storm stated to get everyone’s attention back on him. Taking a deep breath he looked at Tiara, “The night I took you to the cabin and made that deal with you, I knew Craven was listening from the darkness of the next room… hearing every word that passed between us. Do you remember the bargain we made Tiara?”
Tiara slowly lifted her head from Zachary’s chest and leaned back from him a bit before nodding. “I remember.”
“Will you share it with the rest of them?” Storm asked.
Tiara took a deep breath, “I asked you not to hunt Craven because of the bond I had formed with him. You said that in return, I must never take the ring off Jason’s finger with the purpose of summoning Deth with it. You asked if I was willing to give up my father in exchange for Craven’s safety.”
“I made that part of the deal because I already knew Deth would hurt you, possibly kill you if you summoned him,” Storm clarified. “I truly believed I had stopped it from happening by ensuring the ring would not be removed from Jason’s possession.”
Jason curled his hand into a fist and felt comfort in the cold metal of the ring against his fingers, “Then problem solved right? I don’t have any intentions of taking it off and he won’t be able to come as long as I’m wearing it.”
Storm rubbed his chin and shook his head, “No, changing the rules doesn’t always ensure the outcome we want. Some of the facts aren’t adding up though. First off, why would he send his Night Walker with the orders to kill everyone Tiara loved? Why punish her like that? Then we have to take into consideration that once the first objective is accomplished, he plans on coming to kill her. If he had the power to come for her… then why bother killing everyone around her first?”
“Well if it was to make her miserable then I’d say he’s already accomplished it,” Zachary stated but his mind was going a mile a minute. He’d stolen every memory Tiara had of her mother over the last week. He hadn't exactly let Tiara in on the fact he was stealing her memories but now knew he couldn’t keep that information to himself. Looking at Ren, he got an idea.
‘Ren,’ Zachary called mentally.
He smirked when his efforts were rewarded by Ren glancing at him with a curious expression on his face.
‘Good, you can hear me… can anyone else in the room hear me?’
‘No,’ Ren listened intently as Zachary gave him the information he’d gleaned from Tiara about her knowledge concerning Myra and Deth. Ren almost gave him a full blown smile when Zachary pointed out the more helpful parts of that information.
Storm had grown thoughtful as he watched the silent interaction between Ren and Zachary. He knew the two were talking but the mystery was what was being said.
Ren finally looked away from Zachary and gave Storm a nod, “Part of the deal struck between Myra and Deth was that if Tiara was ever in danger and needed him to save her, then the ring would let him know. Through that loophole in their deal, Deth can open a portal that would allow him to cross dimensions back into this world to help her.”
Craven’s expression darkened hearing this, “He plans to take her to the other side with him… but to do that he would have to kill her.”
“And the Night Walker will not stop coming for the team until Tiara gives up and calls out to Deth for help,” Storm concluded.
“Tiara will be safer if you leave her inside the barrier and let us try to handle this,” Nighthawk stated.
Storm shook his head. “We will need her as bait for Deth's Night Walker,” he pointed out.
“I cannot ensure her safety from an enemy that is more powerful than I am,” Nighthawk felt no guilt in admitting such a fact. “Without my soul, I am no match for Deth's Night Walker.”
“Then I think it’s time to do two things,” Storm said, “return your soul to you and catch us a Night Walker.”
“Tiara is not strong enough to return my soul yet,” Nighthawk said truthfully.
“I am,” Craven announced. “If it will help you protect my child, then you should have just asked.”
“And here I thought your problem was lack of personality… not lack of soul,” Guy said then added thoughtfully, “Wait, Tiara called Carley’s soul back from the other side… why couldn’t she do the same thing with Nighthawk’s? I mean, there’s really no difference between the two.”
Nighthawk crossed his arms over his chest, “My soul never passed to the other side.”
“Great, that means it’s still here somewhere… that sounds even easier,” Guy tried again seeing Tiara perk up listening to the conversation. At least she didn’t look so sad now. He took a step back when Carley was suddenly standing in front of him giving him a pissed off look.
“You can be such a jerk sometimes,” Carley hissed. “His soul never went anywhere. It’s been trapped in his grave all this time.”
Guy made a face not liking the sound of that.
“Where are you buried?” Storm asked knowing long distance would be out of the question with the barrier around the city still in place.
“It’s not far from the cabin,” Tiara answered for him, “I remember Nighthawk telling me about his people living in the hills behind the cabin.”
Storm nodded with satisfaction, “Then we have a plan.”
***** Kane sat on top of an electrical unit looking down at Michael sleeping his immortal life away on the floor. He’d gone through two packs of cigarettes and memorized every warning sign on the walls. Now… he was BORED.
“Wake up!” Kane yelled at the unconscious body and huffed when nothing happened. “If you don’t, I’m gonna have to find someone else to play with and Damon isn’t any fun at it!”
Still nothing happened and Kane growled at the entire fiasco. He could be at home right now with Tabatha wrapped up in his arms all hot and ready for another go but noooooo, he was under orders to baby-sit. He had to stay right here so Michael would have someone to talk to when he woke up and make sure he got home okay.
“If you don’t wake up, I’m going to find a permanent marker and make a new face on you,” Kane threatened. “And I promise to put it in an interesting place.”
His eyebrows furrowed when Michael twitched but otherwise did nothing making him sigh. A blond eyebrow rose as an idea came to him. “Fine, let’s see if this works.”
He hopped off the machine and straddled Michael’s body before sitting down rather harshly on his lower back. Bringing his wrist to his lips, Kane bit down until the blood flowed then held it over the deep wound on Michael’s back.
Michael felt consciousness slam into him and his eyes flew open only to find himself lying face down on the floor of some kind of electrical supply closet. The first thing that raced through his mind was the demon that had gotten away from him and he growled low in his throat.
He moved his arms to try pushing himself up to his hands and knees but groaned at the pain the movement caused. That was when he felt something heavy across his lower back and looked over his shoulder when he heard familiar laughter.
“What the hell,” Michael complained as all thoughts of continuing the chase left him, “did you just stab me in the back then break my neck?”
Kane quirked an eyebrow but continued to hold his wrist over Michael’s open wound. “No, for once it wasn’t me… that was the love of our father.” He leaned down to get a better look at the wound. “Damn, he didn’t even use a knife like you did me… it looks more like he stuck his fist through you.” He looked up at Michael’s profile, “What did you do to piss him off?”
“Why would he…” Michael started to ask but groaned when Kane shifted into a more comfortable position on his back. “Will you get your ass off of me?”
“Why, I like it here,” Kane stated with a smirk.
Michael used all of his strength to roll over, making Kane scramble to avoid any uncomfortable situations… or positions. He only got as far as his side but it did get Kane off of him.
“Why would Syn make a fist sized hole in my back?” Michael asked again as the memory of what he’d been doing before everything went dark screamed through his mind.
Kane frowned wondering the same thing “That’s one answer I don’t have for you,” he shrugged. “All I got from Syn was to watch over you until you woke up then escort you home. Personally, I can think of much better places to be.”
Kane wasn’t about to tell Michael that when Syn had sent him the mental message to find his brother, he’d suddenly known exactly where Michael was. Stepping around Michael, Kane squatted down in front of him and sighed when he saw actual burn marks from the electrified train tracks fading away to nothing.
His eyes widened when he looked at Michael’s chest and saw something very important missing.
“Ohm… your necklace is gone,” Kane pointed out. He quickly backed up when Michael glared at him. “Well, that probably answers the question of why you have a hole in your back. It’s not like you wouldn’t do the same,” He said bluntly then rubbed his chin, “However, the mystery still stands on why he broke your neck. What the hell happened yesterday?”
“Yesterday?” Michael swallowed the nausea that threatened. He hated reviving and hadn't felt this bad since the last time Damon had killed him. “What time is it?”
“Almost dawn. Let’s go see if that’s your blood stone he stuck in you.” Kane patted him on the back then hissed when Michael growled at him from his place still lying on the floor. “Sorry.”
“Yeah right,” Michael groaned. “At least I healed you when I did it… instead of killing you.”
“You have a point,” Kane smirked and sat down next to him on the floor. It was obvious Michael wasn’t moving for at least a couple more minutes. “So what was Daddy so pissed about that he broke your neck?” he asked.
“I never saw who had a hold of me,” Michael said vaguely remembering fighting back against his attacker. He sighed now knowing he’d been fighting Syn, but in his defense… Syn had just rammed his fist through him without warning.
Kane focused trying to listen in on Michael’s thoughts but was having some difficulty. It had been so easy to read Michael during the last couple weeks, but for some reason now he was only getting half worded whispers.
He frowned and leaned down, putting his lips close to Michael’s ear to part with some brotherly advice. “Whatever you did… let’s try not to piss Syn off again or next time the hole might be bigger.”
“I didn’t do anything to piss him off,” Michael insisted.
“What do you remember?” Kane asked sitting back up and pulling his pack of cigarettes from his pocket then noticed it was empty. He rolled his eyes and tossed the pack over his shoulder.
Michael decided to skip the most memorable part. He wasn’t about to tell Kane about making love to a beautiful woman down in the subway… only for her to run from him before he could even get his pants zipped. He cringed knowing he’d never hear the end of it.
“I remember trying to leave the subway and realizing my bloodstone was missing. I came back to look for it…” Michael frowned, “I was attacked by a demon and pushed him into the path of an oncoming train… but that’s really it.”
Kane grinned, “You pushed a demon into the path of a subway train?”
Michael shared the grin, “Yeah, why?”
Kane couldn’t help it and started laughing, “Oh my… was… was he plastered against the front of it like the coyote in that cartoon?”
Michael chuckled at the mental image then made a face, “Stop making me laugh… it hurts too much.”
“Aw, poor baby,” Kane said in mock sympathy, “come on, I’ll take you home and we’ll get you all doctored up.”
Michael grunted as Kane took hold of his arm and pulled him to his feet. His humiliation was complete when he slumped against Kane’s chest with his arms hanging over the blonde’s shoulders.
“Why Michael,” Kane purred, “I didn’t know you cared.” He paused for a moment and sniffed then smirked deciding to have a little more fun, “By the way, did you know you smell like a girl?”
Michael lifted his head and growled at Kane again. “Shut the hell up, I do not.”
“Let’s see,” Kane started while resituating Michael so they were walking side by side with Michael’s arm around his shoulders. “You smell like a girl, fight like a girl, and even shop like a girl. What’s next… dress like a girl?”
“I’m going to kill you,” Michael answered in a deadpan voice. “I don’t mean figuratively, I mean literally… I’m going to kill you deader than dead.”
Kane smirked, “The last time you threatened to do that was when Alexander invaded India.”
“Ass,” Michael growled.
“Yes, I do have one and it’s a very nice one thank you very much,” Kane chirped. “Just ask Tabatha.”
“Kane,” Michael said feeling a slight depression settle around his heart as Aurora’s image swam in his mind only to be replaced by the image of the demon that said he had a claim on her.
“What,” Kane said wondering why Michael had forgotten he had healing powers and could have used them on himself. The tone of Michael’s voice told him that it wouldn’t be a good thing to continue playing. Something was bothering his brother and whatever it was… it wasn’t good.
“Shut up and get me home, will you?” Michael asked softly.
Kane nodded and led Michael out onto the maintenance walkway leading back to the platform. He’d find a reason to play with Michael later... he always did. Maybe while he was at it, he’d even find out whatever it was that Michael was hiding.
***** Syn closed his eyes and inhaled deeply when he felt Michael awaken with the help of his brother. He knew Kane hadn’t liked sitting there watching his brother sleep and had found a way to wake him up in a semi-painful manner. Brothers would be brothers he supposed… but for now, most of his attention was elsewhere.
Looking back down from the overhead steel beams that crossed the high ceiling at the woman below him he frowned. Angelica had been at this all night and he was getting tired of watching her punish herself for dreaming about him.
In light of her recklessness, he’d set up a barrier around her that allowed only the weak demons to come near her tonight. While he could sense that she wanted something stronger, he refused to allow it. It was almost dawn now and as far as he was concerned… she’d killed her fill of them. Enough was enough and it was time to leave.
Syn dropped straight down from his hiding spot and landed directly between Angelica and the demon she was fighting. Holding out his hand, he placed his palm directly against the demon’s forehead and watched as it burst into flames. It turned to ash before hitting the floor.
Angelica stared at the demon for a second then glared up at the back of Syn’s head. “That was you… wasn’t it?” she demanded.
Syn looked over his shoulder and arched an eyebrow, “I beg your pardon?”
“You,” she accused while pointing a finger at him. “You’re the one that attacked that demon on the subway steps when I first got here.”
Syn frowned, “I think you have me confused with someone else my dear.”
“That’s a load of bull,” Angelica fumed. “Why are you stalking me?”
“I think you’re angry about something else besides me being here and whether or not I killed a demon for you,” Syn put the blame back where it needed to be.
Angelica was angry but he was right, she was angry at herself and the instant reaction she’d had when he jumped from the rafters. She’d been relieved to see him. The more she was around him the more she liked being around him and that fact alone frightened the hell out of her.
“You can’t leave me alone for five minutes can you? You are not my keeper and I don’t need you obsessing over my every move.”
Syn was suddenly directly in front of her with his face less than an inch away from hers. “I’m not the one having erotic dreams. I believe you are the one obsessing and you run from it because it frightens you.”
Angelica’s hand moved so quick that Syn almost didn’t see it coming. However, he did nothing to stop it as her hand connected with his cheek. The slap echoed down the maintenance tunnel sounding abnormally loud in the deserted area.
“Go to hell,” Angelica hissed and grabbed her shoulder bag and the orb. The orb began to glow a little brighter once she’d picked it up, lighting the way for her in the darkness. She’d be damned if she was going to stick around and let some demon with delusions of grandeur use her thoughts against her.
“I’m not a demon,” Syn growled under his breath then snapped his eyes in her direction.
Angelica was so angry that she didn’t see the orb start to flicker in her hand until it dimmed to almost nothing then came back on. She stopped and stared at it with wide eyes.
“Come on you medieval flashlight… don’t fail me now,” she hissed at it, shaking it like you do when a flashlight malfunctions. Suddenly the orb went out completely and Angelica almost whimpered when the darkness closed in around her.
“You son of a bitch,” Angelica screamed and spun around to glare in the direction she’d just walked from. “Turn it back on.”
“I’m not the one that made it go out,” Syn blatantly lied. “You see, that orb is also known as Odin’s Eye and has a mind of its own. It only stays lit when it feels it’s needed.”
Angelica huffed, “I need it to get out of here.”
Syn sighed heavily, “It is no longer lit because you have me.”
Angelica growled feeling like the darkness was closing in on her then fidgeted nervously. Finally giving up she softened her voice knowing she was doomed, “Will you please get me out of this hell hole?”
Syn chuckled and started walking toward her. He reached out and barely touched his palm to her cheek, making a mockery of the heavy-handed slap she’d just given him. The moment he touched her, a soft glow came from their contact lighting up the area between them.
“And what will I get in return?” he asked softly.
Angelica visibly shivered at the seductive purr in his voice and took a deep breath in an effort to control her reaction. She looked up into his eyes and felt a sudden jerk in her lower belly.
“What do you want?” She held her breath as he leaned closer.
“I only have one request… for you to stop running from me,” Syn whispered against her ear.
Angelica felt the flesh along her neck tingle with his warm breath and turned her face closer to him… causing her cheek to slide across his as he leaned back. She didn’t know why she followed his lips as she turned, but they were now less than a hairs breadth away from kissing. She froze in longing.
“Will you teleport us out of here?” she asked as she lowered her gaze to his lips knowing he had kissed her during the last teleport.
“Where do you want to go?” Syn asked hovering temptingly closer.
“A hotel room,” Angelica answered not caring how that sounded.
Syn raised his hands painfully slow and threaded his fingers through her silky dark hair before descending on her lips like a storm unleashed.
He opened his eyes a sliver when they appeared in the living room of Damon’s penthouse. The preference would have been Love Bites but Damon and his mate Alicia had been busy christening their new bed the last few days and Syn did not want to interrupt that.
Angelica moaned softly and her eyes flew open at the sound, surprising her. Had she done what she thought she’d just done? Pressing her hands against Syn’s chest, she pushed back and looked around wondering where Syn had taken her.
“Where are we?” she asked trying to sound in control of herself.
“This apartment belongs to our son Damon… he and his mate have moved to Love Bites,” Syn answered truthfully.
Angelica frowned, “Why didn’t you take me to a hotel?”
Syn tightened his arms still around her waist and smirked down at her, “Because this is more private.”
Closing her eyes and shaking her head, Angelica sighed heavily and dropped her overnight bag on the floor. For a moment she’d forgotten just who she was dealing with… but damn if he couldn’t kiss the socks right off her feet.
“We don’t have any children together,” Angelica informed him for the thousandth time since they’d met, “I didn’t even know you before recently.”
Syn smiled, “Are you sure?”
Angelica gasped when his fingers began to brush against the soft skin of her cheek and down the side of her throat. She couldn’t stop herself from leaning back a little when his hand ghosted down to the collar of her button up shirt to stroke the visible flesh there.
“Your soul remembers me,” Syn whispered against her lips.
Those words made Angelica pause and her expression hardened before she abruptly pushed away from him. Syn released her and immediately turned away, walking toward the window and opening it.
“If you truly fear making love to me in your dreams… then all you need to do is fulfill the craving before you sleep,” Syn said and leapt out into the night.
Angelica stared wide eyed at the window before releasing a scream that relayed her frustration to the entire world. Marching up to the window, she leaned out and looked around before slamming it closed.
“Damned sexy, sadistic… argh,” She muttered suddenly wide awake.
Syn stood on the roof of the penthouse listening to her rant and let a smirk of satisfaction spread across his face.
