Genesis (The Legend of Glory Book 3) (17 page)

“Do you want me to take over so you don’t get hurt?” White Bear asked Kate.

“No, it’s my duty to bring him home.”

“Why?”

“He’s the other half of my daughter’s soul.”

“Gamble everything for love

if you’re a true human being.

Love is the bridge

between you and everything.”

“It seems as if Glory and Zane have always had a star-crossed love. Do you think they’ll finally find each other?” White Bear asked.

Kate quoted Rumi once more.

“The minute I heard my first love story

I started looking for you

not knowing

how blind that was.

Lovers don’t finally meet somewhere.

They’re in each other all along.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

*          *          *

I woke in Jesse’s arms. Ever since I had tried to kill him, he wouldn’t let me sleep outside his room. He preferred the total control over me that being in his bed provided. He didn’t try to force himself on me, he didn’t even kiss me anymore, but I would often wake in his arms—and for just a moment before reality crashed—I’d feel safe.

He whispered in my ear. “You feel like innocence. We’re going to have to change that. I’ll wear you down. I will. Being good in this world only brings a person pain.”

I turned my back to him, but he lay on his side and pulled our bodies closer. I felt even more trapped.

He threw his leg over mine and caressed my hip. “You ready to invite me in?”

“Not going to happen.”

“You’ll surrender in time.”

“You used to be awesome. Now you’re awful.”

“Well, that just sucked all the romance out of the moment.” He wrapped me up in his arms more tightly and patted my belly. “I’ll show you my sins if you show me yours. You’ve obviously had some experience I’d like to benefit from.”

“The irony of you going darkside, Jesse, is that you were the one who taught me about doing the right thing, no matter the consequences.”

“And look where that got me.”

Time was different here. I had no clue how long it had really been, but the experience seemed interminable. I was suffocating. “I miss the earth, the trees. Fresh air.”

“Can’t go outside until you submit to me. Those are the rules of my fight club.”

“Oh, Jesse. What happened to having my back? What happened to promises made?”

“Don’t you see? This
is
having your back. Belle is better off dead where she can’t be hurt anymore—she was too good for this world. You are, too. If I didn’t have your back I’d simply put you down like I did her. But if I toughen you up, give you Supergirl powers, no one will ever hurt you again. Not even me. Don’t you see?”

For a moment, that seemed appealing. No more pain. No more helplessness. Perhaps a way to save Genesis. “If I submit and agree to stay with you, could I keep my baby?”

“Can’t do that. A demon’s only as good as his deals. I have to honor mine.”

I had never felt so hopeless. “Damn you, Jesse.”

“Yes, I am most certainly damned.”

Genesis was growing fast, and it seemed likely she would be born soon. I had decided to tell him about the importance of Genesis’
DNA
, but was saving that revelation for the eleventh hour because I had a bad feeling that it would go worse for her if the demons knew. It was the only card I had left to play. “You can’t expect a woman to not want her baby.”

I felt him tense. “If you need inspiration, consider my mother.”

“
Please
, Jesse. Oh, please. I’ve never asked you for anything.”

“Don’t beg. It makes you weak.”

I hadn’t cried since my first night here, and the rising storm was hurricane force. I disentangled myself from him and tried to get up, but he yanked me back. Overcome by grief and rage, I screamed and pummeled him wildly with my fists. “I ... can’t ... do ... this!” The retaining walls burst, and my storm surged.

He sat up, pulled me against his bare chest, and tipped my head onto his shoulder. “Let it out, Glory. Let go of all the tears. I’ll hold you like you held your parents when they cried about Erica.” He stroked my hair. “I know you never had anyone to comfort you—and I arrived too late in the game to be much use—but I’ve got you now. Let go. Give me your pain.”

I sobbed harder. My mind rebelled at his tender tone and words. How could he be at once so good and so bad?

“I know you think I’m a monster,” he whispered. “But I’m just doing the best I can with what life gave me. Let me help you. Let me make you strong, too.”

Even though I understood how dangerous giving him even an inch could be, at that moment Jesse had my back again, and so I clung to him and surrendered my pain.

*          *          *

After I rode out the storm, I took a shower in the master bathroom and dressed in clothes Jesse had given me: maternity jeans, comfortable sweater, thick socks. I didn’t need shoes around the place, and he had confiscated my knives, but I still had my pearl rosary. I hung it around my neck and hid it beneath my sweater, not sure if he would take away the only thing I still had from my old life.

Demons, like angels, didn’t need to bathe. So when I came back into the bedroom, towel-drying my hair, all Jesse had to do was put on a clean shirt—he always slept in jeans—and we went out to greet the new day. And Nyx.

Nyx had been here pretty much since I arrived, hovering like an ominous black raven circling prey. When we stepped into the living room, she sat on the couch, reading. She looked up, raised an eyebrow, and grinned. “Heard the screams, Glory. Good screams, I hope? Did you discover how skilled Jesse is in giving pleasure? I enjoyed my time in his bed.”

I groaned. “Overshare.”

She laughed, and returned her attention to the magazine.

Nyx was ancient, but she looked to be around my age. Exotically beautiful, she usually wore a long, flowing red gown—unless she had a field trip planned into the world to make infernal conquests. Then she dressed just like any teenage girl. Today she was in her gown, and my hopes fell. That meant she was planning to stick around. Jesse and Nyx usually took turns leaving to undertake whatever grim missions demons performed, but often they were both just there. Never left alone, I was going mad from the lack of privacy.

To pass the endless stretches of time I read Jesse’s books, listened to music, watched movies on the giant screen
TV
, daydreamed of Zane and Dominic, and silently talked to Gen. Submerged in hopelessness, I didn’t pray anymore. There was so much evil in the world, and clinging to this tiny scrap of driftwood in the middle of that ocean, I felt I would drown. It seemed certain that Gen would too, and I found myself helpless to give her a life preserver.

I sat in an easy chair as far away from Nyx as I could while Jesse snapped his fingers and manifested a breakfast pastry and glass of orange juice for me. Not in the least bit hungry I accepted it anyway, knowing I had to nourish myself for the baby’s sake. Well, I hoped I did. I still wasn’t sure if Nyx’s intentions were to kill Gen right away or to raise her in the demonic life.

“Where am I supposed to give birth?” I asked. The question had long been on my mind, and I needed to know as much as I could in order to prepare for what seemed inevitable.

Nyx looked at me. “Here. I’ve delivered many babies over the centuries.”

“What are you going to do with her?”

Nyx smiled. “Her? So you’ve known the sex all this time?”

Angry at myself for letting down my guard, I didn’t answer.

“Girls are sweet,” she said, licking her lips.

I looked at Jesse pleadingly, but his hard eyes had returned. He put on his boots, then picked his coat up off the piano bench and shrugged it on. “I’ve got to go work. People to see. Souls to turn.”

Nyx looked at him with amusement. “Meet your quota yet this month?”

“And then some. Been working on a big deal with Dad.”

That seemed to surprise Nyx. “Really?”

“A lot more power will be at my disposal. Going to throw the lightning and ride the thunder.”

She put the magazine down and her face grew serious. “Making deals directly with Lucifer is playing with fire. Sure you can handle it?”

“Bring it on.”

I recognized that brand of cockiness in Jesse. It was how he used to act in response to his human father—courting danger to prove courage. Always the daredevil.

“Even I haven’t gone that far,” Nyx said. “In exchange for favors he’ll want to possess you for his own purposes at times. I understand it’s like swallowing a nuclear reactor.”

“But the payoff is wicked,” Jesse said.

Nyx cocked her head. “What could you want so badly that you’d consent to that?”

He looked at me, a slight smile playing at his lips. “She won’t be able to resist me anymore.”

Nyx’s eyes flicked back and forth between Jesse and me. “All that risk and agony for a girl?”

“She’s not just any girl,” Jesse said. 

Terror filled me for both of us. “What have you done, Jesse?”

“I want you, babe. More than I’ve ever wanted anything. I’ll do whatever it takes.”

“But you already have me.”

“No, I don’t. Apparently, I’m not enough for you as I am, so I’ll become more.”

“Jesse—”

He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Nyx gave me a look of frank appraisal. “You sure do have a strange effect on males of the various species.”

“It’s a blessing and a curse.”

She gave me a slow smile. “I find you kind of appealing myself.”

“In your dreams.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Feeling bold, are you?”

I tried to stare her down.

“Wow, you and Jesse sure are cut from the same cloth,” she said.

“We’re nothing alike.”

“Much more than you realize, Glory. It’s why you were drawn together in the first place. And the way things are going, I predict it’s why you two will be the death of each other.”

*          *          *

The night we meet, you whirl me around the dance floor, and I float under your mastery. The connection is as powerful as it is instant. I know that nothing, or no one, will ever be able to sever that bond.

You tell me I remind you of your favorite horse, the one who was wild and you broke.

I’m shocked. “What a thing to say to a lady.”

You smile slow and sexy, and say, “A wild horse is free, and there’s much to be said for running with the herd. But she has no one to touch her, or pamper her, or love her. She has to surrender to someone in order to enjoy the true riches life has to offer.”

“Do you think you could tame me?” I ask.

You lean forward and whisper in my ear. “I know I could. And I know you’d like it.”

Later I give you a photograph of myself. “So you can find me again, in case I get lost in the herd.”

“Oh, I’ve already got my brand on you. You just don’t know it yet.”

Your brand is forever on my soul
.

*          *          *

I awoke sitting in the easy chair with tears streaming down my face.

From the couch, Nyx stared at me. “You were dreaming of your vampire.”

“How did you know?”

“Demons don’t read minds, but we do read hearts. I’ve never seen love like the love you have for him.”

The yearning I felt for Zane hurt so much I moaned.

“What of your fallen angel?” Nyx asked.

How could I explain how differently I loved them? I let my heart fill with the warmth and joy that thoughts of Dominic brought.

Nyx studied me for a few moments. “I see. Well, the bright side about your present and future situation is that at least now you don’t have to make a choice.”

“What if I never submit to Jesse?”

“He’ll kill you. Either way, there’s Hellfire at the end of your tunnel.”

I sighed. “You certainly don’t pull your punches, do you?”

“Never.”

Achy and miserable, I stretched, stood, and paced. “I need exercise.” I thought of pulling punches. “Spar with me?”

“What?” Nyx asked.

“You know, fight.” I raised clenched fists. “Box. I was just learning to do it when you two took me.”

“You’re about to have a baby. Like, any second.”

“Well, don’t punch me in the belly, Einstein. I was going to ask Jesse a while back, but every single thing we do together ends up with him trying to get in my pants. It’s exhausting.”

Nyx cocked her head. “You think his sex-talking you is actually about sex?”

“Well, yeah. It’s like he’s starving for it.”

“You are young, aren’t you?” She laughed. “He gets all the sex he wants, and a lot he doesn’t want, but it serves his purposes. Males, no matter the species, generally suck at communicating about their feelings. Listen to his heart, not his words.” She looked at my stomach. “I don’t want to spar. The baby might get hurt.”

Relief washed over me. If she was concerned about that, it likely meant she wasn’t going to kill Genesis after all. If it was just about a Happy Meal, she’d eat and run now. Where there was life, there was hope. I could breathe again for the first time in forever. I took big, greedy gulps of air and felt the tension lessen a bit.

Nyx leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “But I will give you some self-defense tips in dealing with demons.”