Celestial Beginnings (Nephilim Series) (38 page)

Ignoring her yelp of surprise, he picked her up, positioned her to straddle him, and slammed into her.

Fucking hell, she wasn’t lying about being wet. He didn’t stop, but immediately lifted her up to pull her down again. Over and over, he moved his hips to sink into her deeper each time he brought her down.

Taking her mouth with his, he swallowed the screams she started to let loose and wasn’t surprised when he felt her body stiffen.
The sensations hit him all at once; her nails digging into his shoulders, her legs tightly wrapped around his, and her body tightening on him with each spasm that coursed through her. It was too much. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, thrust up into her one last time, and held her there as he found his release.

After a few minutes, when they had finally caught their breath, they started to move.
He pulled her head back and looked into her hooded eyes.

“What you do to me, Angel…”

Reaching up, she placed her hand on his cheek.

“What you do to me.”

He leaned down and kissed her so tenderly, a direct contrast from what they had just done. He loved her so much and wanted her to feel it in every touch, every kiss.

Once he pulled away, she sighed and took a moment to open her eyes.
“Um, Malachi…”

“Yes”

“I loved the ride, but I feel I’m going to go crazy if we don’t get off right now.” At his confused look, she went on to clarify. “I can feel the vibrations from your motorcycle all the way to where you’re still inside me. It feels delicious, but I don’t think my body can handle another round like that one, so soon.

He chuckled and was tempted to lean forward and rev the engine a little harder.
Deciding not to push it, he gently lifted her off of him and noticed her wince as he did so. Remembering that there was nothing gentle about the way he entered her, he felt like an utter ass. He’s not a small man and could have done some damage if he wasn’t careful. What was he thinking? Oh yeah, he wasn’t.

He turned off the bike before he picked her up and gingerly set her on her feet.
Watching how she had difficulty steadying herself, he inwardly cursed himself.

“Did I hurt you?”

“What? Oh no, it’s not that. I’m sure it’s just because we spent the better part of the afternoon riding. You’re used to it, my body’s not yet, that’s all.

Malachi got off the bike and swooped her up into his arms.
Her reasoning made sense, and he felt like kicking himself for not thinking about that before. He was losing all train of thought, when it came to her.

“How about a warm bath?”
He asked, already heading inside.

He was not about to tell Trinity, but this thing with Azazel had him rattled.
He could feel that it was all coming to an end soon, and just hoped that he was the one standing in the end. Well, they still had tonight before everything started up again tomorrow. He would take this time to just be with her and make sure she could never doubt his love for her.

“Mmm…only if you join me.”

He leaned down and kissed her temple before smiling. “I think that can be arranged.”

Chapter
19

Trinity watched Malachi as he worked at his desk.
It had only been a few days, but things were completely different between them, than before the attack. Maybe it was because there were no more secrets between them or it could be because they both finally realized how much they meant to one another.

The day after the attack had been eye opening.
It was still hard for her to take in everything that she had learned; was still learning, for that fact. There were still
so
many questions, and Malachi was open to answering any that she had.

Tension was also at an all-time high.
Yesterday, the entire team convened to discuss what their next step forward was. The moment they all walked in, Trinity couldn’t take her eyes off of them, wondering how old they were or what their dominant abilities were. She thought she was being discreet, but after a few minutes, Terah stopped the meeting to see if there was anything she needed. Trinity was mortified, but they were understanding and spent the next half hour talking to her about themselves.

It was amazing!
She already knew that Gemariah could alter emotions, and she found out that it was Terah who was the one to see the future. There was a small thread of disappointment when she was informed that Terah couldn’t see hers. Tori was still reluctant to talk about hers, but Trinity later found out that she could sometimes conjure protection barriers around a person or object. Asking about Gideon was a touchy subject, but Malachi reluctantly informed her that he was capable of a different set of powers than they were, because of his demonic side. He mainly focused his energy on creating allusions and had the fighting abilities to rival any warrior.

She found out that Terah was the oldest at 511 years old, which of course completely shocked Trinity.
Terah looked so small and fragile, and was the last one Trinity would have ever guessed to be the oldest.

Now that the air was cleared, everyone was a little more relaxed around her.
It was the second day into their research, and Trinity had no idea what exactly they planned to find, but Malachi reassured her that this is what they did.

“Alright guys.
The papers that just arrived are the financial trails and personal reports of Seth Masters. Everywhere he’s been in the last six months, what he’s done, where he’s spent money, and more are in these boxes. If he took a shit somewhere at a restaurant, it will be in there.” Malachi put a hand on top of one of the numerous boxes that were on the long conference table.

“Why only Masters?
Wouldn’t it be more productive to look at different angles?” Tori jumped in. “We could do a face recognition for Azazel, he is who we’re actually after, correct?”

“He is the main target, but Masters needs to be stopped as well.
If I’m assuming correctly, he’s been corrupted and the Lord only knows what other damage he’s causing. I am quite sure if we find one, we’ll find the other. It will be a ‘two birds, one stone’ type of thing.” Malachi was calm and clear on stating his reasoning.

Watching Tori nod and reach for a box made Trinity smile.
She knew that Malachi was a good leader, but it made her chest swell with pride watching him at his best. Anyone could tell that he was born to do this.

Everyone had been searching and digging through boxes for hours.
They even gave Trinity a box of her own to look through. That was after, of course, Malachi deemed it okay. He had to make sure that she was going to be okay being surrounded by information of the man that had been tormenting her. Trinity loved how much he worried about her, but she was a big girl. If this had to do with her, she was damn well going to help.

It wasn’t until the afternoon, when Gemariah announced that he thought he had found something.

“Look at this.”
He had papers clutched in his hand as he made his way over to Malachi. Placing the papers down, he pointed to something on the top sheet. “Masters has been caught by stop light cameras a few times. The majority of them are from the same one.”

Trinity watched as he pulled up their global tracking software and typed in the address.
Nothing he had said had surprised her. Seth always was a reckless driver. It was so bad that while they were dating, she had always insisted that she should be the one to drive.

Finally, Gemariah got to what he was looking for.
She didn’t see the significance of the wooded area, so she waited for him to finish his explanation.

“This is the intersection.
The camera was probably put in to raise more money for the small town, by people speeding through the light.”

“Where is this going?”
Obviously Malachi was just as confused as she was.

“Look at the area.
What’s out here?” Gemariah zoomed out to show more wooded area. “Nothing. Where was he going?”

“It’s not that conclusive.”

“You’re right, but this makes it better.”
Gemariah went back to the papers in front of Malachi. “Look. Two weeks ago today, the camera caught him twice; each going in opposite directions. The pictures were thirty minutes apart.”

When no one said anything, but still looked at him expectantly, he groaned in annoyance and went back over to the screen showing the wooded area.
“I started thinking, where could he go that was ten minutes away from this intersection? Ten minutes, maybe a little more, would give him time to be somewhere, for a short amount of time, then turn around to go back where he came from. I did the calculations and came up with two different locations.” Gemariah pointed to two different spots on the aerial view, and Trinity barely made out two separate houses hidden within the trees.

“Wow.
I probably wouldn’t have caught that. Good job.” Malachi sounded truly impressed.

Gemariah preened and strutted over to his chair, smiling broadly as he sat down.
“So what’s the plan?”

Malachi looked conflicted and reached over to grab her hand.
Giving a slight squeeze, he turned his gaze to her. “I have to go, but I swore I would never leave your safety in someone else’s hands again.”

“I understand and it’s okay.”
Trinity swallowed down her fear for him.

“You won’t hate me?”

Trinity brought his hand to her mouth and brushed her lips across the palm. “I don’t think that’s possible.”

“Give it time.”

Gemariah’s comment made everyone laugh off a tense situation, and she watched as Malachi’s shoulders relaxed somewhat.

“Okay.
Tonight, Gemariah and I are going to check out these locations. Tori and Terah, you are to stay with Trinity, do not leave her.” His voice took on a hard edge, a clear warning, and Gideon’s image flashed into her head. That was all her fault, and she hoped Malachi saw reason soon and forgave him.

“No problem.”
Terah’s words brought Trinity back to the present.

Malachi then turned toward Trinity.
“I think you need to stay with Joseph and Renée. It will give added protection.”

Trinity was already shaking her head before he finished talking.
“No. Not happening. There are children there. I won’t put any of them in danger from me being around.”

“If you are there…”

“No!” Her outburst stopped his talking. “End of discussion.” When he looked stricken, she softened her tone. “I’m sorry, but they are the only family I have left. They need to stay safe, please.”

“Okay.”
After a moment’s thought, he looked back at her. “Your house will have to be secure if there is going to be any way I’m going to concentrate. Is Nicci up for traveling, maybe she can stay with Joseph and Renée instead?”

Trinity was momentarily taken back by Malachi finally referring to her friend by the nickname she had given her, and it took a second for his words to sink in.
“That’s a good idea; they’ll take good care of her. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before.”

“Can she travel?”

“I’ll make sure she can.”

“Wait…why wouldn’t she be able to travel?”
Gemariah spoke up over their conversation. She had almost forgotten that they were not alone.

“Um, she’s sick.
I thought I told you that.”

“You did, a few days back, but I didn’t know it was that serious.”

“Yeah, it’s pretty bad.” After a slight pause, she continued on a chipper note. “That’s okay though. Renée will fawn over her till she’s better.”

“I’ll take her over.”

The offer took Trinity by surprise. “That’s okay, I’ll handle it. No offense but you two are volatile together, and I want to keep her as comfortable as possible.”

Gemariah didn’t say another word, but instead slouched back into his seat, looking irritated.

“Alright, so tonight, we will all meet at Trinity’s place by six o’clock.
That gives us…” Malachi looked down at his watch. “…three hours to prepare. Gemariah, we’ll take your truck. Load the back down with whatever you think we’ll need. I’ll go to my collection and grab whatever other weapons we might need. Wear suitable gear, we don’t know what we’ll be running into. You three…” He indicated the three women in the room.” “This is not a pajama slumber party.”

“Even though I would not object to a pillow fight between all of you.”
Gemariah, out of his funk, jumped in with another comment that made everyone chuckle. It also got him slapped upside the head, courtesy of Tori.

Malachi laughed as well, before getting everyone’s attention.
“That’s enough.” He said calmly to stop the laughing. “This is serious. Let’s all laugh about this tomorrow. What I meant was…you have to be on full alert. We’ve been caught off guard before and also led astray. If we are prepared for that possibility again, it won’t matter.”

Everyone sobered.
The last time wasn’t fun for any of them. They all thought of Trinity as family by now, and she saw on everyone’s face the guilt over not being there for her last time.

“Everyone know what they have to do?”
When everyone gave an affirmative answer, Malachi continued. “Six o’clock it is then. See you there...dismissed.”

As everyone left to go on their way, Malachi and her stayed at the table.
He looked relaxed and in control, but Trinity knew better. The slight tremor in the hand that held hers was all she needed as confirmation. He was nervous, and that didn’t sit well with her.

******

Trinity got Nicole delivered to Joseph and Renée’s house in record time, where Renée was more than happy to take care of her, but not before a lecture on how they should have come to her sooner. She explained to Nicci that she had somewhere to be for a couple days and wouldn’t be able to check in on her, hence, the reason for her drop off. Needless to say, Nicole wasn’t too pleased with the situation. She believed that she could take care of herself, and Trinity got the message loud and clear when she mouthed the words “I hate you!” as Trinity made her way to the door. Trinity just smiled and blew her a kiss before leaving the house.

She wanted to see Malachi before everyone met up at her place, therefore wasted no time making her way over to his place.
During the drive, she had to continually shake loose the tension in her limbs when they started to tighten up. She was nervous and hated the feeling.

When Trinity got there, she pulled into his driveway and didn’t bother knocking as she walked right in.
She had stayed so much as his place these last few weeks, it was starting to feel like hers as well.

The house was silent as she made her way through it, and she wondered if he was even home.
Finally, she heard a faint clanking noise coming from one of his spare rooms.

When she made it there, she stood in the doorway and watched as Malachi loaded a duffel bag full of weapons.
Trinity momentarily got distracted by the amount of weapons he had. There were so many of them, and they all looked completely different from any weapons she had ever seen. Walking over to his cabinet, she reached up to touch a button on one of them.

“Careful!
That one does some damage.” Malachi was right behind her and lowered her hand away from his collection.

“What is it?”
Trinity asked in a whisper.

Malachi reached around her and into the cabinet to pull it out.
“This one was designed by Gideon. We call it the MI.”

“MI?”

“It’s short for myocardial infarction.” When she still looked confused, he clarified even further. “…heart attack.”

“What does it do?”

Malachi walked away from her, and she watched as he took the weapon from the cabinet. Holding it away, he demonstrated the use for it. “The only way to kill a nephilim is to destroy the heart. This makes it easier when in battle.” Malachi talked as if his mind was somewhere else, and Trinity could only imagine what was going through his head. “To the normal person, it looks like a spear, but when this is shoved into the heart, you press this button…” He pushed the button she was about to touch earlier and the tip splintered out into five different pieces in two different places. “The heart is now mincemeat, effectively killing the nephilim.’