Blinding Light (The Bloodmarked Trilogy Book 2) (24 page)

She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, delving into teacher mode. “Well, I’ve looked through several texts and only found it in one. It mentioned that the beholder of the Sword has an extreme advantage over his or her opponent.”

“In what way?” I asked, knowing I would loathe the answer.

“It said,” she paused, reluctant to give it up, and my anxiety skyrocketed. “It said that whoever held the Sword of Michael held the power of the archangel himself. Impervious to sunlight. Superior in strength and speed. He or she would basically be invincible.”

Awesome. It never failed to amaze me how much shit could go wrong. Like somewhere, someone was looking down on me and saying, “Hmm, Lucy doesn’t have enough bad things happening to her. Better give her another obstacle. Maybe sprinkle on some tragedy.”

“And how do we know this information is true if it’s only from one source?” I asked.

“We don’t, but like I said before, if anyone else has this information, true or not, they will be after the Sword. We can’t let anyone else have it, Lucy. Especially if there is any truth to this.”

“We?” I asked around a smile. “You sound pretty invested in all this. Have you looked into any colleges yet?”

She dipped her head to hide the blush from such an open display of team spirit. “Yeah. I’ve started applying to a couple places, but I was thinking that I could still help you guys out when I get a chance. I could still do research for you from farther away.”

“Soph, this is the kind of life where you’re either all in or you’re all the way out. I know you want to help, but I know you could still lead a long, fulfilling life without all of this. You can still get out and be happy.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?” I asked.

“Have you considered a life away from this? I bet you could get out, too, if you wanted. You could be happy, too.”

“You know, I’ve considered that a time or two. But…,” I started to explain when a commotion down the hall broke our conversation.

“Help! Somebody help! Please, hurry! He’s got him!”

Panic gripped me at the sound of Brody’s distress, but I charged through the mansion to get to him. I found him hunched over in the foyer, blood dripping down his shirt. A fresh bout of hunger seized me momentarily, but when he lifted his sagging head and met my stare, a sense of protectiveness replaced the thirst. Rage followed.

I rushed to his side to help him stand. Others were already running towards us to help. Helen came around the corner and immediately began the interrogation.

“What happened? Were you alone or are others hurt?”

His eyes lifted and scanned the surrounding faces with gargantuan effort before they settled back on me.

“He has Nick,” he choked.

I gingerly folded his arm over my shoulder for support, and it was then I noticed the gaping bite marks above his shoulder.

“Lucy,” he whispered. “He wants you.”

“Who?” I breathed, already knowing the answer.

“I didn’t recognize him. He looked ancient, and he said you two had an old score to settle. Something about you killing his partner in front of him.”

The assassin that stabbed me in the back, forcing my transformation, had found me.

“Is Nick alive, Brody?” asked Allison, who had edged her way to the front of the crowd.

“Yes, but he doesn’t have much time.”

“What does he want in exchange for Nick?” Helen demanded.

Brody watched her as she asked the question, but to answer it, he simply turned his gaze back to me. Sympathy and desperation filled his eyes. He was looking to me to save Nick, and when the hope I saw in his expression became too heavy, I looked away, only to come face to face with twenty similar expressions.

“He said if Lucy meets him alone, he’ll release Nick.”

“Well, let’s hand her over. She hasn’t done anything for us yet, anyway,” Allison bit out.

I had to hand it to her and her scathing remarks. The girl held one impressive vendetta.

Several other opinions rose to either agree or clash with hers, but through the riled group, I glimpsed Gavin leaning against the door frame at the back of the foyer. His thoughtful gaze ensnared me, and to my surprise, I found myself searching for all the answers there. I wanted him to tell me what to do because I still couldn’t trust my own decisions to save a life.

Helen shouted over everyone, silencing the racket. I assessed her more closely. She managed to pull herself back together since our last encounter, adorning her usual pantsuit with cool authority.

“Alright! That’s enough. We’ll discuss a game plan in the dining room. Brody, did he say how much time we have?”

“She has until one a.m. to meet him by the lake.”

“Lake? What lake?” Carly asked. She had moved to Brody’s other side to inspect his injuries.

Brody looked to me like I had that answer as well. I did. I knew exactly what lake he meant. It had been him who followed me through the woods. He must have studied my tracks in the snow.

“Wade, take Brody to the medic. The rest of you can head to the dining room.”

“I’ll help Wade,” Carly offered, concern etched on her face. Brody’s eyes softened to her. They clearly cared more for each other than they typically let on.

As everyone dispersed, I hung back, my eyes trained on the immovable man dressed in casual navy pants and crisp button down. His sleeves were rolled up, revealing tightly corded muscles. Who knew forearms could be so lickable? Gone was the thirst from scenting Brody’s blood. A brand new hunger took root in me when my eyes met his heated gaze.

When Allison passed him, she flashed a seductive smile and told him she’d save him a seat at the meeting. Jealousy prodded my heart with its icy needles, but I leashed it quickly. He turned at the sound of her voice, but his eyes never connected. She stomped away at his dismissal like a four year old.

He tilted his head down, staring at everyone’s shoes as they passed, waiting until we were alone. Once everyone filed out, he captured my attention once again.

“It’s useless,” he said, jerking his head in the direction they went. “We already know what you’re going to do.”

“You want me to go?” I asked.

He cocked his head, shooting me a bland look. “You know I’ll never want you to put yourself in danger, but I’m tired of trying to make those decisions for you. I admit, it’s been… difficult, to say the least, to cope with my own need to protect you and knowing who you are. Your life will never be safe, and you’ll always be put in dangerous situations. But I’m not going to tell you not to save lives, not to be you.”

It was my turn to give him a skeptical look. Being bossy was in his nature. And, of course, the one time I wanted him to tell me what to do was when he decided he wasn’t going to. Figures.

He chuckled before raising his hands in a sign of surrender. He pushed off the wall and stepped closer to me. “I never said I would always agree with you. There are times I may… advise you to come up with a plan other than charging head first into a fist fight.”

“And by advise, you mean tell me and then argue with me until you cave.”

The corner of his mouth tipped up. “I don’t recall that being our typical method of communication. I never cave.”

“Neither do I.”

“That, I
do
recall,” he said sourly.

Humor lit his eyes, sparking fond memories of our unique form of communication. He stepped even closer, his body heat grinding all up on me in a happy way. When his hand curved around my cheek, I leaned into it.

“What if I lose?” I asked, surprised by my own admission of fear.

“You don’t have it in you to lose.”

“I’ve already lost a lot. You said it yourself. I lost to Shane.”

“He hasn’t won either. That fight isn’t over yet. And yes, you have lost a lot. Everyone loses something or someone at some point, but that’s not what I meant. You won’t lose because you won’t stop fighting.”

“I could die.” There I went, thinking about the consequences again. I needed to start living in the present like I used to. The future could twist and turn in too many ways to worry over. What mattered was the present.

“You won’t,” he said firmly.

His confidence in me filled some of the holes of self-doubt that have accumulated after leaving my human life behind. He paused knowingly, letting his strength sink into me. His forehead pressed against mine and his arms snaked around me, locking together behind my back.

My hands ran up his biceps and dug into his shoulders as we stood there, conveying our every thought through touch and loaded glances.

“So… the lake?” he asked.

“Yeah, the one with the park bench that someone hauled out there,” I hinted.

His smile widened. “There’s also a canoe buried under all that snow somewhere.”

I pulled back to eye him questioningly. “Big nature lover, huh?”

“It’s peaceful out on the water. I’ll take you out there sometime in the summer,” his voice dropped low with meaning. Message received, Big Guy. I would still be around for the foreseeable future.

I didn’t need the reaffirmation any more. His presence itself was a lone canoe on a summer day, offering more peace than I’d felt since I found him alive in that warehouse.

“I’ll be listening from a distance. If anything happens, I’ll be there. I know you can do this, but I won’t let anything happen to you. If there are others nearby, I’ll get you out of there.”

In all the chaos, I hadn’t even thought about the possibility of others. Fear seeped back in, but I pushed it right back out. I was quickly getting over that particular emotion. I saw it more as an irritation now. And irritation led to my all-time favorite standby emotion. Say it with me. That’s right. Anger.

I honestly didn’t care how many were out there waiting to get a piece of me, because I wanted a piece of them too. One piece in particular. Their hearts. At the end of my stake.

Gavin’s perusal of my renewed determination brought a no-holds-barred grin to his already gorgeous face. It was a genuine, boyish smile that I absolutely adored on him, and it had me reciprocating it.

“There she is,” he commented softly, the ice in his eyes turning into warm pools I wanted to bask in for days.

They shifted and grew hooded with the weight of something heavier, darkening with desire, and I drew closer by his magnetism. He leaned down, tightening his hold around me.

“I thought we couldn’t,” I whispered, my breath bouncing off his lips and clouding the thin space between us.

“Lucy,” he breathed. “I’m trying to be good and do the right thing, but you don’t make it easy on me. You never do,” he teased, smirking.

“Are you saying I’m difficult?” I raised my pitch, feigning insult.

He tilted his head, aligning our lips. When he spoke, they brushed tantalizingly against mine. “The most difficult woman I’ve ever met.” His breath mingled with mine.

I parted for him, inviting the kiss, but before he dove in, rapid footsteps sounded down the hall. We broke apart and put a respectable distance between us as we waited for our company to approach. I smelled her cheap perfume before she rounded the corner.

“What’s going on in here?” Allison chirped.

Gavin remained silent, refusing to answer, and I just ignored her. I walked around her, but she kept going. “Everyone’s waiting on you. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of our guest here. I’ll keep him company.”

I whirled around, ready to do permanent damage to that bottle blond head of hers. Gavin interjected before I had the chance.

“I’m sorry. I actually have other matters to attend to,” he explained politely.

“Oh, well, maybe we can get together later and…talk,” she hinted, not so subtly. “Or we could spar together sometime.”

“Maybe,” he replied noncommittally, but he flashed her his rare boyish smile.

That one gesture filled me to the brim with wrath, permitting no room for any lingering fear or self-doubt. I was livid, and when he looked at me, he simply shrugged and winked.

Wait… That son of a…

Was he trying to piss me off? Get me riled before I take on my enemy? If so, it was working. But as grateful as I was for the added fuel, it wasn’t going to save him from the ass kicking he would be receiving later.

He held my gaze a moment later to revel in my reaction and gloat over whatever small victory he thinks he won. When he turned to leave, I heard his low laughter follow him all the way up the stairs.

Jackass.

In true drama queen fashion, Allison stared me down, willing me to engage her. She saw Gavin as a competition, and I knew she hated losing, especially if it were to me. Without giving her the satisfaction of a response, I breezed by, heading toward the formal dining room.

All the Keepers were gathered around the table, and I heard their animated voices before I entered the room. Tensions were high since it was one of their own involved. Helen spotted me and raised her voice above the chatter.

“Lucy, so nice of you to join us.” Her tolerance of me seemed to be thinning on a daily basis.