Love Beyond Oceans (19 page)

"Who are you?"

"A friend." The woman took Alexa's hand in hers. "A very old friend. Don't worry. You would have no way of remembering me. Not yet, anyway."

"Where am I?"

"What do you see?"

Alexa looked left and right. Calmness filled her body and soul, the likes of which she wasn't certain she'd ever had before. Everything was always so…hard.

"You and a lot of light."

The woman nodded. "This is a safe place, a stop where you and I can talk. The others…they've been here before, not that they'd remember any more than you will. The nature of this visit means you'll never recall our talk, not directly. I'm hopeful the fact that you've stopped by at all indicates a shift for you, the start of the path you've been missing for so long."

"Am I dead?"

The woman let go of her hand and touched the side of her face. "Not yet."

Alexa swallowed. Her answer wasn't a definitive no. "Dying?"

"Not sure."

Also not a great answer. Alexa took a deep breath. She didn't want to get annoyed with whatever dream figure this turned out to be. Beautiful moments simply didn't happen to her. "You said something about a demon?"

"That's for you to figure out. This moment between us is just a blip, a spot for you to rest, to see if you can find yourself again. The woman you were born to be. Sometimes you make such poor decisions, you and Leonardo both. So pivotal to the battle, the ones who win it or lose it in the end. And yet…you aren't steady. The ones most likely to turn."

Alexa placed her fingers over the woman's. "You're so warm, like the sun."

"Just the opposite, dear."

What?
Alexa's eyes flew open.

She was on a bed. Somewhere in the distance, water dripped steadily. She jolted up, her heart beating wildly.

"Easy, 'Lexi."

The face of her childhood friend and protector appeared before her. She hadn't seen Gabriel Ward in…well, she'd really lost track of time and then they'd been together on the street again like they had when they were children. One thing had become abundantly clear in their brief coming back together. He hated her. Tears pooled in her eyes and she didn't have the wherewithal to stop them from streaming down her face.

"Gabe." Her voice cracked. "Is that really you?"

"It's me." He sat on the edge of her bed. "Who else would it be? The pretend me?"

She lay back on her pillow. For some reason she'd been having a fantastic dream she couldn't remember. A sense of wellbeing had made her actually feel rested for a change. Gabriel's attitude, however, was rapidly undoing any relaxation she gained.

"I get it. You hate me. You teamed up with the people we were against and they made you think I'm the enemy. I get it."

"Alexa…"

"Don't." A voice from the doorway caught her attention and Gabriel whirled around to see the speaker.

A man stood leaning against the doorframe. He was tall, dark-haired, high cheekbones. A pair of glasses rested on his nose and although the room wasn't brightly lit she could see through the frames he had dark eyes. He sauntered more than walked into the room.

Alexa's mouth went dry. Who. Was. That?

"You have tried more than once to explain this to her. At this point, she's going to have to figure it out herself. She'll have ample time to get to know us. Since she's not going anywhere."

"Right." Gabriel nodded. "Well, I'll leave you to it then, Leonardo. Um, Alexa." He didn't turn to look at her. "Loraine is going to come see you later. Try to be nice, if you still know how."

His words burned. Of course she knew how to be nice. Just because she didn't care to become friendly with people who she'd sworn to defeat didn't make her exactly mean.

Gabriel's exit left her alone with the man he'd called Leonardo. She'd heard Sebastian mention the man several times. He was their leader.

She grabbed the sheet, which covered her, as her mouth started to water. Oh, god, she wanted blood. Her restful sleep had clearly not cured her of the affliction. Would it ever go away?

"Here's the deal." Leonardo sat on the edge of her bed. "You have to be here. If it were up to me, I'd send you out of here as fast I could, but a prophecy I had nothing to do with creating tied my hands and made it clear you had to be here. So here you will be. I have two members of my crew who would like nothing more than to make you feel better."

"I don't understand. Why do I have to be here? I don't have to do anything at all. I don't know what you think give you the right to…"

"Here's what gives me the right." He didn't raise his voice, by contrast, he whispered. How could such a low sound give off so much heat? "I'm in charge of a group of eighteen people. You happen to be one of them whether I want you to be or not. You're beautiful and I would bet when you're not all kinds of fucked up you're very powerful. I have a job to do and waiting for you to come around has not been working. Particularly, it would seem, not for you. So you'll stay here with us. Or if we have to leave again, you'll go. You can use this as a time to get better or you can consider yourself kidnapped. Suit yourself."

He stood up and she watched him, transfixed with the way his mouth moved. The words he spoke weren't inherently hostile, yet the way he said them left no question he was furious with her. Restrained, but dangerous. Or maybe she just knew he was because sometimes she understood people more than she should. Like the way she could find anyone, anywhere.

The powers she'd had since she was a little girl.

Leonardo would hurt her. If he had to.

Alexa moved until she sat on her knees. "I know what you are."

He stood up and took a step away from her, a protective move from a man who didn't need to be playing defense. What was that about? Sebastian had taught her, before these people had killed him, to watch the way everyone moved. Sometimes their body spoke in ways their words didn't.

"What am I, Alexa?" The way he said her name, as though he liked to.

They were alone in the room. He didn't need to keep saying it.

She stood and although her legs felt wobbly and her need for blood hadn't abated, she stayed steady. "You're a demon."

He was slow to smile. "Sometimes I wish I were."

* * * *

Sebastian smiled. They'd been so intent on finding and capturing his mother that no one paid any attention to him. He shook his head, although in his incorporeal state the shaking was more proverbial than anything else.

He floated toward the caves. Marina's wards weren't as strong as they should have been. She'd weakened when she'd held mommy dearest back. She would have to get stronger if she wanted to beat him, not that he intended to tell her how to win. The sad truth was, she'd done him a favor.

With his mother locked up, she was one less thing he had to focus on. His sister had been banished after the mess with Charma and Jason. He'd lay odds his father didn't let her out of the dungeon for eons.

But with mommy missing, his father would come.

And Sebastian didn't stand a chance in winning this dimension with his father present. So what was a demon to do when he had enough of his parents' crap?

Let the Outsiders manage it for him. They'd take down his father—or they'd die—and either way that would solve Sebastian's problem with them.

The thing to do was to get them injured, weakened, not ready for his father. He took a deep breath and smelled her. Alexa was in the vicinity. They had her. He rubbed at his chin. They'd gotten to her faster than he expected. Oh well. She was too damaged to be any good to them and Jason wasn't enough of a healer thanks to his very human upbringing to know how to fix her.

By the time they figured it out, his father would have arrived.

Gia and Raquel were still absent. The soul mates weren't fully formed and all he had to do was take one of the weakened wards and flick it away.

The lines danced in front of his face, they were spider webs pulsing together like musical instruments. He concentrated, sending bits of his energy to it until it shattered. A hole in the Outsiders boundaries formed and like a floating piece of smoke he floated right through.

From his vantage point on the ceilings of the cave, he could see them all. Such a funny place, the Outsider caves. He'd tortured Abraxas for decades deep within the walls before he'd killed him. The current Outsiders' parents had invited him into their world deep below.

Most of the living group slept soundly, content in their knowledge his mother had been defeated and Marina had warded the caves. How stupid of the little asses.

One of them he needed to stay asleep. It wouldn't do to have Eden wake up, have a vision, and spoil his plans. With a flick of his wrist, he sent sleeping magic deep into her soul. Neither she nor Samuel would wake until the next evening. Not even if the caves caught aflame. Wouldn't it be a shame if no one thought to go wake them up? Samuel had already been burned alive.

Oh, well…a drama for another day.

Gabriel and Loraine whispered in the kitchen. They wouldn't be a bother. He let them be.

Leonardo and Alexa argued. She still smelled infected. Nothing was going to improve for them and he gave it no further thought. The two he wanted were deep asleep still, wrapped up in each other, spent and naked.

Sebastian floated downwards.

Marina, he supposed, was considered very beautiful. To him, she looked like white meat he wanted to chew on and spit back up.

But Drew loved her. And that was why hurting her was going to feel so damned good.

The Outsider was stronger than he had been even the day before. He was sure there were reasons for the shift in Drew and, if he had the time, he'd figure out why. Only, Sebastian needed to get in, destroy, weaken—kill if possible—and get out.

Although it took longer than expected, Sebastian found the hole he'd pushed into Drew years ago. The entrance to his very soul.

Time to go play.

Chapter Thirteen

Marina took Drew's hand. They were in their garden and the sun set softly on the horizon. "Could we stay like this forever? I mean we really don't need to wake up do we?"

Her love grinned. "Sounds like a plan. We can sleep through the whole battle."

"Seriously, when it's all over, and we've both survived, triumphed, and rid the world of the demon, Sebastian, can we please never see the inside of a cave again?"

Drew leaned forward, his lips almost pressing to hers. "And here I thought you'd want to make a home of the caves. We could redecorate. A nice rug…"

His voice faded off and worry crossed his brow. She reached up to smooth away the line. "Hey, none of that in here. Whatever you're thinking about has no place in our garden."

"Something's wrong." He looked left and right before he moved to stand. "I don't know how to describe it. But somehow…" Drew grasped his stomach. "Oh, fuck no."

She jumped to her feet. "Love, what is it?"

"Sebastian. He's inside of me."

Marina gasped before she rushed to his side. "Not possible. You got super strong in the other dimension, he shouldn't be able to manifest in your weak spot anymore."

Drew grabbed his head. "And yet… Marina, run."

She couldn't run. They were asleep. This was their place. Like hell she was going to let the son-of-a-bitch demon, who screwed everything up for them, anywhere near their sacred spot.

"What can I do?"

Drew took a step back. His expression went blank for a split second before he cocked an eyebrow at her. "Do?"

"About Sebastian. I'll wake up and do something."

"I'm afraid it's too late for that, Marina. You see, if you'd ever really been able to do anything at all, I wouldn't be here inside of Drew's body, would I?"

"Sebastian." In their garden, in Drew's person. No. No. No. No. No.

The demon wearing Drew smiled. "I got through your wards. I floated through the caves. No one noticed. And now I've taken over your love. How many of you do you think I can hurt before anyone realizes it's not Drew controlling things? Do you think I'm even still in the bed with you? Or have I killed Colin and Zane in their sleep?"

"You couldn't still be talking to me if you were awake. That's not how this place works." She outstretched her hand. "And no way would Drew let you hurt anyone. He's fighting you. I know he is. Right now."

She sounded frantic. Marina dropped her hand. The sad truth was she had no powers in her dream state. Nothing she could do whatsoever to protect herself from the demon or get him out of Drew's body.

She needed to wake up. Right. Then.

Only she'd never been able to make it happen from the garden. Either something on the outside forced her awake or her body got enough rest and she came back to consciousness.

"Oops. Looks like I'm waking up. Guess I'll have to be extra careful not to jar you." Sebastian winked at her. "Oh, I wish you could hear him scream. Wasn't this scenario exactly why he stayed away from you for so long? And before I go…I wonder if you die in a dream state do you perish in real life?"

The world around her exploded in fire. Her garden, their garden, went up in flames.

* * * *

Sebastian rose from the bed and stretched his hands over his head. Technically, they were Drew's hands but whatever. He'd forgotten how stiff the human body could be. Did Drew get this knotted up every morning?

"Getting older, asshole?"

Inside of him, Drew screamed and Sebastian smiled for a second before he shut him back down by turning off the piece of his brain where he could hear him.

Drew would have to listen to him and Sebastian didn't have to pay attention to one damn thing Drew said.

"It's really too bad it had to come to this. You do realize this is entirely yours and Marina's fault. Whoever I hurt or kill in your body falls entirely on your shoulders. Or on Marina's. Why didn't she check the wards before she went to bed? I mean that's basic Outsider one-oh-one isn't it? Check the wards. Big sigh, buddy, big sigh."

Marina hadn't moved. He wondered if he'd killed her in that garden. Funny, he'd only been kidding when he made the stupid joke about dying in a dream leading to death in real life. But who knew? Maybe he'd solved his own problem. Dead Outsiders meant he'd won. He'd keep his father away by immediately becoming supreme leader.