Beautiful Beings (18 page)

“My
scene
is wherever Lux happens to be.” 

His brow creased with anger and for a moment I feared he might strike Moore.

“I guess I should have kissed you away from this biker dude.”  He winked at me and pulled me closer.

“What?” I said.  “Is that how you’ve come to be in my thoughts?  Is that how you spun your spell?”

Asher reached out to take my hand.  “Come, Lux.  You need to get away from him.”

His grip on my hand was so urgent and his command so solemn, I wondered if something more than Moore’s erotic allure was disturbing him.  I shoved all my feelings for Moore aside and tuned into my senses, seeking out any possible demon, but there was no sign of any.  “Why?” I finally asked.  I still wanted to question Moore about this spell he’d put me under.

“Because, my dear Lux…”

I turned to the sound of Shayne’s voice.

“It appears that Asher knows.”

She was a glorious vision, glowing white in her silk gown in the dark night.  Any mortal could have easily imagined her to be the sweetest angel as she glided closer.

“Where’s Brax?”  I looked around her, hoping to see a sign of him.

“He’s inside.  I’ve made sure he’s comfortably settled in one of the rooms.  Don’t worry.  I didn’t hurt him…” She grinned with vile intent.  “… much.”

My hands fisted and I felt the need to lunge at her.  “Where is he?” I shouted, no longer wanting to play the nice houseguest.  “I swear, Shayne, if you…”

“Anger doesn’t suit you, darling,” she said as she took calm steps towards me.  “I have no reason to hurt Braxton.  In fact, all I did was what I’ve been longing to do for the longest time – kiss him.”

“Damn you,” I hissed as I stomped closer to her.

Asher pulled me back.  “Not now,” he whispered.  “But keep your crucifix close at hand.”

Shocked by his warning, I turned to him.  “Why?”

My answer came by way of Shayne’s devilish snicker.  “How lovely it is to see you shaken up, my dear friend.”  She set her elegant, slender hands on her hips and leaned in closer as she whispered.  “Asher here wants you to be prepared for the battle to come.  You see, the house is entirely filled with demons.”

“No, that can’t be.” I had not sensed any.  Not one.

“Oh, but it is, dear.  I made sure of it.”  She laughed, the evil sound stinging my ears.  “I invited them.”

I tore free of Asher’s grip and ran to her, pushing her back into one of the elegant columns.  “Do you know what you’ve done?  Do you know how dangerous they are?”

Shayne pushed me back and set her body in a strong fighting stance.  “I know exactly what I’ve done.  I invited them because I know how strong and dangerous they can be, and knowing we’d have a demon slayer, angel and sightseer in our midst, I thought it essential these demons are here.”

I turned to Asher.  “What is she talking about?”

Moore shook his head.  “I’ve come to genuinely like you, Lux. It’s unfortunate you turned out to be a demon slayer.”

“But you're human. You have no reason to be afraid or threatened by me,” I argued.

Asher straightened up and pulled back his shoulders. He seemed suddenly taller, broader, stronger.  He shrugged off his jacket and let it fall to the ground, but he didn’t have time to remove his shirt.  As his chest increased in breadth, the shirt tore at the seams.

His torso, magnificent in its muscular structure, was bared.  I gaped, surprised by the image of him.

“All this time, I’ve searched for the answers.  The answer to who I was… what I was… why I constantly had those dreams of you.  Now I know.”

“But, what are you exactly?” I asked.

Shayne beamed.  “Thanks to you, Lux, or to your sudden appearance at St. James, Moore and I have found our little angel, albeit not a pure one. You triggered him, Lux.”

“Asher?” I asked him.

Asher looked over at me, love shining in his eyes. “Lux…you figured it out that day I came over to your house, but I didn’t know until now that I have angel blood in me.”

“Oh, Asher,” I cried, realizing why we had such an intense connection. Everything was making more sense, except the Hatchetts. “Why would you want an angel?” I asked Shayne.

Shayne turned to her brother who offered her a brilliant smile.

“He’s vital to our survival,” she said. “He’s one of us.”

Us? What were the Hatchett twins? Angels? Then why would they need Asher? Why did they invited demons to their home? My confusion was growing with every declaration.  I’d trusted my senses for so long and couldn’t understand how all these angels and demons could roam about me completely undetected.

I turned to Asher and inched my way closer.  Feeling more secure in his proximity, I turned to Shayne.  “And what are you?” I asked.  “Are you angels as well?”

“There’s no reason for you to know who we are,” she said.

“I’d also prefer you not know, Lux,” Moore added.  “It may change the way you feel about me.”

I gripped my head in disbelief.  “If you're not angels, then…”

“Our angel is not your kind, Lux,” Shayne explained.  “We’ve found our kind, a fallen one, or rather, his father was one, and his mother was human.  He’s a nephilim, a half angel.”

“So you're nephilims?”

Moore approached me, his gaze tender as he held his hand out to me.  “Lux, enough questions,” he said, a hint of desperation in his voice. “Come with me and let’s get out of here. Please before everything happens…” I reached out to him and he pulled me into his arms.  “Let’s get out of here, and you can be spared all this. I don’t want anything to happen to you, not you, Lux.” He touched my face, and gazed into my eyes. “You may not know it, but you mean so much to me.”

His gaze pulled me in and soon he was all that mattered.  His touch was like a flame that warmed my skin and I wanted was to feel his heat all the more.  He brushed his lips across mine and I let out a satisfied sigh.  Shayne and Asher no longer existed.  My world was limited to the lips that covered mine, the tongue that tasted mine and the body, hard, powerful and strong, that held me tight.

A twinkling of consciousness pressed me to question my lack of shame, my complete abandon as I melted into Moore.

But our interlude was cut short as a vice grip took my wrist and pulled me from Moore’s touch.  Bleary-eyed and annoyed by yet again an interruption, I turned to look up at Asher.

“We have to leave... now.”

I glanced at Moore, eager to regain his heated touch.  His eyes had lost their depth of lust, replaced by anger.  His fists were tense balls of rage, ready to pommel Asher.

“That’s fine,” Shayne said. Her tone reverted to that of the elegant socialite hostess, while her fingers dug into her brother’s arm, effectively pulling him away.  “I believe the auction is about to begin and we should be there before any bidding begins.”  She led him inside, her head held high and her grin haughty.

The haze of lust Moore had enveloped me in slowly dissipated, allowing me to see more clearly the goings on around me.  Asher, I thought as I glanced up at him.  He’d pulled me away.  Had stopped me from going to places with Moore I would no doubt have regretted.

Loud voices from inside announced the start of the auction. “I have to go in there and fight,” I said, shaking the remaining desire for Moore out of my head.

“You okay?”

I took a deep breath. I was okay, but just barely. “Thanks for snatching me away from Moore,” I said. “A few minutes more in his hold and I don’t know what would have become of me. He has a hold of me that is impossible to resist.”

“Yeah,” Asher said. “I kind of noticed.” He glanced toward the house and quickly back at me. “I’ve been going over everything that’s been happening since your arrival here. I think the Hatchetts may be children of an incubus and a human, and even a nephilim. Their lineage has been around for a long time…”

“You think that’s what renders Moore so irresistible? That’s why I’m so physically drawn to him?”

Asher shifted nervously from one leg to the other. “I think if you allow yourself to succumb completely to his charms, you’ll pay for it with your soul.”

The newspaper clippings I’d seen in Kingsley’s binder suddenly flashed before my eyes. Drained and dried up, the articles had said. Like mummies. Could it all have been the work of a succubus or incubus?

Asher, magnificent in his breadth and strength, leaned down to kiss me. I needed to rely on his strength. I dreaded the enormity of the fight that was to come and wondered if I could make it through.

“I won’t let you out of my sight.” Asher kissed me again. “I won’t allow Moore to have a second alone with you.”

“With all the demons in there, keeping an eye on me could become difficult.”

He pulled me into his arms and I felt the wealth of love and concern he had for me. “Stay close to me, regardless of what happens in there, stay close.” His gaze intensified, holding mine for a moment that was filled with mutual affection and admiration.  “I’ll have to find a way to make you forget what Moore’s done to you.”  A heated grin warmed his lips.  “Even if I have to seduce you myself.”

Ignoring the heat that rushed to my cheeks, I reached for my crucifix and prepared to enter the demon infested mansion.  “I can’t say I would be disappointed if you did, but for now...”

“We have some serious demons to tend to.”

I nodded.  “Right down to the Hatchett siblings.  We have to stop them before they drain another soul.”

Chapter 17

D
etermined to win, I led Asher into the Hatchett household, into battle, but trepidation weighed heavily on me as doubts suddenly surfaced.  I’d been a warrior all my life, a demon hunter, in tuned and highly sensitive to my surroundings, yet I was now entering a den of demons who’d gone completely undetected and it left me questioning my abilities.

With Asher, my guardian, at my back I should have felt invincible, but conviction of my actions eluded me.

The lights were bright, too bright after the darkness of the patio.  Filled with eager bidders, the room was alive with chatter, excitement and the thrill of hunting down a prized antique.

My instincts kicked in.  I knew what I had to do.

“Come on,” I ordered Asher.

With only one step toward the crowd of demons, a hand gripped my shoulder and stopped me.  Questioning Asher’s sudden hesitation, I turned to him, but found Shayne at my side instead.

“Demon hunter,” she hissed.  “I see your killer instincts didn’t quite anticipate my surprise attack on you.”  Her lips curled into a murderous sneer as she shoved me up against the wall with surprising force.  “Thought you were so clever, hiding your demon hunter capabilities behind our little school uniform.  Truth is, dear Lux, Moore and I knew the deal with you right from the beginning.  You had to be an angel or a demon hunter, but there was no way you were simply the troubled girl expelled from her last school. That’s right, from that very first encounter, when you sat with us for lunch, so cool, so all knowing, so sure of yourself… What a joke.  Here you are a demon hunter and you don’t even see what’s sitting right under your nose.”

When I tried to push her away, she shoved her knee into my thigh and brought a cold hand to my throat.

“You really think you’re going to get out of this, Lux?  I’ll play nice and offer you a word of caution, dear friend.  Your parents are in the next room, socializing with some of my… let’s say, more diabolic friends.  Just one little holler from me and dear mom and dad will bite the dust.”

“Ease up, Shayne,” Moore said.  He’d taken a hold of Asher, his strength overpowering him, just as Shayne’s overpowered mine.

“Stop playing the wimp, little brother.”  Her grip at my throat tightened a moment.  “She’s the worse enemy we could possibly have on this earth.  You really want to let your lust for her be your demise?” Her laughing eyes locked onto mine.  “The only reason we’ve not taken care of you earlier is Moore’s adolescent crush on you.  I guess teen hormones affect nephilims just as much as they do the next guy.”

Her throaty chuckle filled the air as she leaned closer.  Her sweet breath, incongruous with her hate filled glare, captivated me and filled with me a strange sense of longing.  She had the same spellbinding allure as Moore.

“Moore liked you right from the beginning, then again, an ample chest has always been an important factor for him.”  Licking her lips, she dipped her gaze to my breasts, her eyes narrowing.  “I liked you too, Lux.”

My jaw tensed as she passed her fingers through my hair.

“Yes, I liked you very much, but I tend to be a little more pragmatic than hormonal rage over there.  I can’t very well sit back and allow you to destroy us now, can I?”

“I never wanted it to come to this, Lux,” Moore said.  “I’d give anything to turn back time, to go back and have my grandparents born to human parents.  I hate that we’re the descendants of a human/nephilim and succubus.  I want more than anything to become as human as possible.”