Love Beyond Sanity (10 page)

Nodding, Sebastian turned towards the door. "This place is disgusting. Don't you have any pride in your work?" Behind him, he let the door slam.

* * * *

Gabriel waited for a few minutes and watched the man sweep up the mess in his store. He could hardly believe what he'd witnessed. His sane, rational mind that had all but stopped functioning properly when he was twelve and discovered he could teleport people disappeared completely. He supposed he shouldn't be shocked Sebastian could turn into a fire-breathing dragon.

He wondered if he should have video recorded it on his cell phone. Now, that would be a video people would want to watch on the Internet. The real question was what had the large man given his foster brother, and what did it do for him? Was Sebastian actually a dragon and the substance kept him in human form or was there something else happening entirely?

If the scene had gone on another minute, Gabriel was going to intervene. Not that he had any idea how he'd stand up to a dragon, but he would have tried to do something.

Sighing, Gabriel put his hands in his jacket pockets. He was going to have to get this information one way or another. Walking through the door, Gabriel wasn't surprised when the man leapt to his feet and backed up a step. If he'd just been through what the storeowner had endured, he'd jump around too.

Examining the mess in front of him as if he'd not seen it earlier through the window, Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Rough night, man?"

He hoped his friendly manner worked as well on this person as it did on most of the population. No one knew better than Gabriel what he looked like and just how disarming it could be. Once upon a time, he'd looked as genteel as the human version of Sebastian however it had never fit well on him. The older he got, the less civilized he became and the harder it got to dress himself in the clothes of people who behaved properly, who always said the right thing.

Hell, he couldn't remember the last time he'd gotten a haircut. Most days, he just pulled the black strands into a ponytail and moved on. His jeans and plain t-shirt spoke of a person who didn't care for appearances and knew it. All of this was absolutely true. What most people didn't realize was that it also let almost everyone he met underestimate him.

"I'm sorry, as you can see we've had an incident. The store is closed tonight. I forgot to turn the sign on the door." The man gestured to the door. Gabriel heard Uptown New Orleans in his voice, which meant one of two things. Either the storeowner practiced his speech because he wanted to sound richer than he actually was, or he had been raised amongst the elite.

Before Sebastian's family had adopted him, he and Alexa had lived all over the state of Louisiana. His adolescence had been spent in the most prestigious private school and he had grown up knowing all the right people. It bored him to death. "Maybe I can help you clean some of this up. What happened? Did you get robbed?" Gabriel knelt down to gather some of the merchandise strewn all over the floor.

"Don't think you're walking out of here with any of that for free."

Snob to the 'nth degree
. Gabriel actually had to work to suppress his smile. It would be like taking candy from a baby, and if it wasn't, then he'd do what had to be done. The second Sebastian had breathed fire, all rules ended.

Pretending to smile, Gabriel stood up. "Don't worry, sir. I came in here to buy some merchandise not steal it."

Sighing, the other man looked forlorn. "I'm sorry that was rude. As you can see, I'm having a day."

Nodding, Gabriel set the disgusting panties that he wouldn't purchase for any woman he ever knew, down on the counter in front of the flaming cash register. "I can imagine getting robbed would do that to you. Hey, do you need me to call the police?"

Snickering the other man showed a row of crooked, yellowing teeth. "The police can't help me with this particular problem."

Gabriel nodded like he understood and held out his hand. "I'm Gabe."

"Trent." The fat man took his hand and shook it.

"Did the son-of-a-bitch burn up the register after he took the money?"

Trent nodded. "Exactly."

Liar.
It wasn't like Gabriel was exactly being up front with who he was either. Crossing his arms over his chest, Gabriel considered his options. Trent was obviously a man who guarded his secrets.

"Look, I live on the Northshore. I'm not in town all that much. I do handy work. About anything you could need done, I do. I just finished a job on Canal Street. Did you know they're starting renovations on the Convention Center?" He wasn't lying. Trent could check it out if he wanted to. They were doing work, and like anything else in Orleans parish, the right hand didn't know what the left hand did.

Trent raised an eyebrow in interest. "I didn't," Trent motioned around the store. "Obviously, I do need some work done here to set things right."

"I'll do the whole job in two days and I'll charge you five hundred for the whole thing, labor included." He knew Trent wouldn't pay the money. No way would his ego allow him to dish out half a grand to a man he considered beneath him.

In other circumstances, Gabriel might have made him examine his own life and what it was that he exactly did for a living before he took any kind of attitude from him. This time, he would play dumb and hope it worked out.

"Five hundred to slap some paint on the walls and tidy up the room. Maybe put some things back together." Trent paused as if he considered the number. Sweat dripped down the side of his cheek and Gabriel knew he'd need to go sit down in a few moments to catch his breath. "I won't pay more than three."

Gabriel smiled. "Gee, Trent, you drive a hard bargain. Since I'm fixin' to go up to Baton Rouge later this week to see the game I sure could use the money for tailgating. If you know what I mean?" Trent laughed and then coughed into his hand. "I do. I do."

"So three hundred it is." Gabriel put out his hand and Trent shook it.

"I can be here first thing in the morning."

Trent ran a hand through his soaked hair. "That'll work for me. I think I'm just going to close up the shop exactly as it is and go home for the night."

"I don't blame you on that. See you in the morning, Mister Trent."

He deliberately threw in the last beacon of respect. Let the man pimp and preen at how high and mighty he thought he was. Gabriel walked out of the store and crossed the street. Placing himself in between an antique store whose peeling siding said it had seen better days and a convenience store with bars on the windows, he narrowed his eyes. He watched Trent walk out of the store and lock the door behind him.

Something was in the back of that place and Gabriel would not rest until he found out what it was. Even if he had to string Trent up by his thumbs and let him sweat until he talked.

However, he wasn't an animal, and Gabriel would try a little subterfuge first. If that didn't work, he'd use his abilities and see just how brutal he could be. It was the only way he could protect Alexa and convince her to leave Sebastian's house and come with him to find those people they'd tried to best months earlier.

They were the key to everything.

And if Sebastian wanted them dead, there was good reason to keep them alive.

Chapter Seven

They were in big trouble and, putting all gallantry from her completely confused soul mate aside, Jason was not going to be much use against the demon that had just appeared in their garden. She would do just about anything for an offensive power. What good would her ability to enter minds and make people feel better do for her now?

She blew a piece of hair out of her eyes. Well, she'd just have to fake it. Taking a steadying breath, she stepped forward and away from the safety of Jason's arms.

"Seek me out? I'm not that hard to find. Seems to me you haven't been trying too hard." Charma became aware of her heartbeat speeding up and knew it was probably a bad idea to tick off a demon when you couldn't fight it. Still, if the thing was going to attack her, she'd prefer the creature get it over with.

Self-loathing, as Jason had called her, moved forward and stared into Charma's eyes. "Which one are you?"

"Don't you know? You've spent a lifetime dealing with us. Shouldn't you have pictures of us up on your bathroom wall or something?" Now she sounded like Kal. What she really wanted to do was run away and hide. Instead she put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow. She'd be damned if she let the demon know how afraid she was.

"Stop it." Jason reached for her as if he would place her behind him again.

"Keep out of it, Jason. You don't even believe any of this is real. If it's all fake, it can't hurt me right? Or even better, if it's all untrue then I'm just a hallucination, and delusions can't be hurt."

"Ha." Self-loathing laughed. "Does he still think none of this is actually happening? He's a stubborn little bastard isn't he?"

For a moment, Charma considered arguing with the thing. She might point out that Jason was a person who based things in logic and reason. There was nothing wrong with that. With only seconds to make up her mind, Charma decided. It was better if this thing thought Jason was an idiot. It would work out in the end for him.

"I don't know if he's stubborn or just stupid. I have to tell you, I don't much care." Charma pulled out of his reach and walked closer to the demon.

Behind her Jason moved forward to grab her again. "I know what you're doing." She hadn't turned around to look at him but it sounded like he gritted his teeth, which meant she had really annoyed him with her last comment. Good. Maybe he'd back off and then she could handle this for a while.

"You can't possibly know that. Despite your feelings about your own grandiosity I am still in charge of my own mind and you haven't been in it to know what it is that I think." That time she channeled Marina. First Kal, now Marina. If she started quoting statistics and ancient lore, she could call herself Leonardo and be done with it. At least it was useful to have talented family to imitate when things weren't going well.

"Too bad." The thing disguising itself as a human female smiled. "You're obviously not soul mates. One Outsider half never disparages the other half. But still there are two of you and you are stuck in here depriving your other halves of your presences. It'll work out regardless."

Charma wished she could laugh. Just an hour earlier, she would have said one Outsider half would never purposely choose to live a life without the other one. Turned out she knew little about what her own people would do or not do.

"You know, for an entity that has spent the last thirty years searching for us, you know little about who we are or what we do." How far did she want to take this? "It's kind of sad really."

Advancing, the creature hissed.
That's right
, Charma encouraged silently,
let's see your true face
.
Show us
. If there was one thing Veli had taught them, it was that all things were less scary and less difficult to eliminate when you actually looked at them without their glamour in place. Whatever
she
was, it wasn't what they saw right now.

Of course, he probably meant that advice for someone who could actually do something to the creature once it revealed itself.

"For the record, whoever you are, don't think I won't get through whatever blockages you have put up. I have only been on this pesky plain of existence for one week. It is my brother who has bumbled around here for three decades."

Charma felt her eyes widen. Now they were going to need Isabelle and her knowledge of family drama. This whole thing was getting ridiculously complicated. Searching for something witty to say, Charma shrugged. "Cry me a river."

The creature yelled. Jason's hand came down on the back of her shirt, pulling her towards him before throwing them both to the ground as the demon pushed out of its human skin and changed before their eyes.

"What the hell are you thinking?" Jason maneuvered his body until it covered hers completely. He was stronger than he looked. From beneath him, Charma fought tooth and nail to be free of his protection. She hadn't provoked the thing so it could hurt Jason any more than it already had.

"We need to see it so I can know what it is." She kicked him hard in the shin. He grunted but didn't let go. "Why are you protecting me if I'm not real?"

"You're really fixated on that, aren't you?"

The demon roared, scales pushing through its pink skin as it doubled in size. Charma closed her eyes searching for her anger at Jason to get her through this hellish situation. Maybe provoking it had been a bad idea. After a second, she steeled herself and opened her eyes to stare at the transformation.

"How would you like it if I insisted you didn't exist?" She had to shout to be heard over the guttural, animal screeches coming from the demon. It looked like a cross between a serpent and a painting of hell creatures she'd once seen.

Jason laughed and shook his head.

She pounded on him with her fist but he wouldn't budge. "Something about this is funny to you?"

"Here I am worrying about the fact you are mad at me while that thing turns into something more frightening than anything I've ever imagined." He stared down at her, his blue eyes filled with trepidation. If they didn't immediately die, she would find a way some time in the future to reach up and touch his long blond eyelashes to see if they were as soft as they appeared.

"Okay." She nodded. "Let's just say that given the circumstances, I'm not going to fixate on your thinking you invented me, even as narcissistic as that is. Here's the thing, we can't beat it. Not in our current situation. So we have to out-think it, learn from this experience and hope we're around to share it with the others."

Jason looked at her. "How many others are there?"

"Eighteen of us total but not all together. Not yet." The creature reached its full height. Its body a blend of red and tan skin mixed with green scales and black pus that oozed from its pores like a swelling wound. 'Her' eyes were red and scaled over. Charma raised an eyebrow. Why wasn't she terrified? Looking up, Jason breathed heavily, his face a mixture of utter panic and intellectual curiosity. She hoped he was filled more with panic than interest, otherwise they were in deep trouble. This wasn't an intellectual exercise. Reaching with her leg, she kicked him once more, this time catching him by surprise.