Secret Worlds (344 page)

“You got bigger,” I said and slipped inside.

I didn’t have time to study her swollen belly; instead, I moved her out of the warm spray with a mumbled apology and grabbed the soap, scrubbing as quickly as I could. I didn’t even wait until the water ran clear before lathering up my hair and rinsing. She watched from just outside the spray, her arms crossed over her breasts in an effort to keep warm. When my hair squeaked beneath my fingers, I moved her back under the water and captured a kiss.

“Thank you,” I whispered and then left her in the warm flow.

I toweled off and stalked into the bedroom, ripping open the darker duffel bag. A hodgepodge of clothing met my search and I found underwear, an undershirt, and a pair of socks. After I pulled my undergarments on, I found a pair of jeans, sliding them on before grabbing a flannel shirt. I hesitated, glancing between the blood-ridden sneakers by the door and my stocking-clad feet. My work boots were still in the car and there was no way in hell I was going outside again. I jammed my feet into my sneakers and headed out of the bedroom, buttoning my shirt as I descended the stairs. It took me exactly five minutes from the time I entered the bedroom to the time I hit the landing and my heart hadn’t stopped slamming the walls of my chest.

“Your turn,” I said, hand combing my dripping locks away from my face before putting my hand out for the gun.

Tom nodded and handed over the weapon, slipping upstairs.

“Steve?” CJ asked, putting his hand out for Steve’s gun.

“You go,” he said.

“There isn’t an open bathroom for me,” CJ said and Steve sighed, looking between his adopted son and me. “We can handle five minutes alone,” CJ added.

“Fine.” He handed over the gun and sprinted the same way I had.

CJ moved toward me, his gun trained on the front of the house and I stood with mine on the back entry. He stopped at my shoulder and met my gaze. “You need to learn to control it,” he said.

I started laughing and looked out at the darkness beyond the glass. The power he had transferred seemed to take on a life of its own inside me, snaking through my cells like a forest fire during a drought. My gaze dropped to my hands holding the gun, specifically the tremor in them. Fear didn’t drive the shakes, the tornado inside me was responsible, and I glanced back at CJ.

“How?” I whispered.

He stared at me and then focused on the front again. “How did you control yourself when you were a vampire?”

“I didn’t in the beginning,” I admitted and shame painted my face with heat. “But I learned to feed when I had to and not just when the need struck. It was a delicate balance. And when they started storing blood, it made things much easier.” I glanced at him and shrugged. “Scotch helped, too.”

He grinned, his white teeth a stark contrast to the bloody streaks still present on his skin. The water went off overhead and he glanced at me. “Every time you use the destructive ability, it gets stronger and when you lose control, it blooms like a sun flare.”

“You’ve never lost control,” I said, thinking about his memories.

CJ shook his head. “No, I haven’t. I came close a few times, but I was able to rein it in before I lost it. Let me leave you with something to consider. You took the equivalent of a raindrop in comparison to the ocean out there and you’re having a rough time controlling that small infusion. Can you imagine the kind of damage that would result if I ever lost control?”

He met my gaze and I shivered at the possibilities.

Naomi stepped into the room and glanced at the two of us before putting her hand out. “Our bathroom is free,” she said and CJ glanced at her hand, raising his eyebrow in question.

“She’s a better shot than I am,” I said and he glanced at the ceiling, then at me before he relinquished the gun.

Naomi stepped next to me, adopting the same stance CJ had, her focus on the front window as he disappeared up the stairs. When her gaze met mine, she gave me a strained smile. I took the time to glance at her attire, sweats and an oversized t-shirt that stretched over her belly.

“I’m not going to have any clothes left, am I?” I said and refocused on the glass sliders wondering if we’d get the chance to get maternity clothes. Her belly had grown disproportionately and at this rate, even my oversized bum-around sweats would be too small for her.

“They’re the only thing that sort of fits at this point,” she said and shifted. “Every time I change into the tiger it’s acting like an accelerant. The good news is I can feel the baby moving. A lot.”

I dropped my left hand, placing it on her extended belly and a foot connected, pulling my attention from the glass back to her. The flurries within made me blink and stare at her stomach. I focused and let out a small laugh at the distinct, simplistic thoughts coming from inside.

“They’re hungry,” I said, raising my gaze to hers.

“They?”

“Yes, you are carrying more than one.” I pulled my hand back to steady the gun, my heart feeling both lighter with the new knowledge and fiercer on my intent to defend my family.

“How do you know?” she whispered, her focus on me and not the window in front of her.

“Keep watch,” I hissed and her gaze went back where it belonged.

“How many do you think?” she asked, even though her mind kept focusing on how I knew.

“Two,” I said, analyzing the nuance of thoughts. “Maybe three,” I added after a minute. I could identify two distinct voices, but there was an echo on one that made me think it might be three.

“Twins?”

I grinned and nodded. The stairs creaked, pulling my gaze for a brief moment. Tom and Raven descended into the room with a duffel bag and Naomi relinquished the gun to Tom when he extended his hand. A few minutes later, Steve and Jennifer came down.

“We need to leave,” Steve said and I raised an eyebrow.

“Yes,” Jennifer said. “As soon as CJ is done, we need to go.”

I nodded. I couldn’t blame her. If I were in her shoes, I’d bail as soon as I could, too.

“We’re not bailing on you. We’re bringing you with us,” Steve said, throwing a separate duffel bag on the floor.

“They can track me,” I said. “At least that’s what the demon said.”

“Not where we’re going.”

The certainty in his voice made me sigh. “You’ve been wrong before,” I pointed out.

“But I’ve never been wrong,” Jennifer said. “Go get your bags. We only have a small window to get out of here.”

“There’s a demon bear outside, how do you suggest we get past it?” I stood my ground, dropping my gaze to Jennifer’s.

She held up a controller. “Bears have sensitive hearing and we have a hell of a house alarm.”

Her answer shocked me and I handed Steve my gun, trotting upstairs and retrieving our bags. CJ met me in the hall with a backpack slung over his shoulder.

“I guess we’re going on a road trip,” he said.

As we filtered out, I glanced over my shoulder at the angel still standing in the house. With a swipe of my arm, I broke the symbol on the garage door and the angel popped out of sight.

A Tahoe occupied the third garage spot and I smiled at the large vehicle. We each threw our bags in the back and then piled in. As soon as we had locked and closed all the doors, Jennifer and Steve exchanged a glance. A moment later, the garage door blew to pieces and the house alarm pierced the air.

I don’t think I fully appreciated the power of a Chevy engine until this beast roared to life and we hit fifty before the gate blew off the hinges. When Steve’s phone rang, he shook his head.

“Don’t answer it. Let them send the cops,” he said and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Too bad you cleaned up the family room,” I said over my shoulder. Meeting CJ’s gaze. He smiled and closed his eyes for a second.

“That should keep the place crawling with people for quite a while.”

I thought about my car and the electronics inside and bit my lip. As much as I loved the car, the cops couldn’t start digging around in there and I added to the melee. With controlled focus, I made my car explode, destroying all the electronics along with my prized car. A pang of sorrow hit and I pressed my lips together, watching the plume of smoke retreat into the distance.

“It’s just a car,” Naomi said and I nodded, but it still felt like I had taken a gut shot.

“The mural …” I started and she shook her head.

“I put it in my duffel bag,” she whispered and squeezed my hand. “Maybe I’ll be able to wear it like a poncho,” she added and ran her hand over her stomach.

Jennifer turned in the front seat. “You look much bigger than you did earlier,” she said.

Naomi just nodded. Neither of us understood the acceleration and as I gazed at her, I wondered what it was doing to her. I took a moment to study her and then I closed my eyes, listening to the hum of discontent coming from her abdomen. Soon their demands would bloom into something Naomi would have to answer.

“I may have something you can wear at the cottage,” Jennifer said, her gaze dropping to Naomi’s belly and a flash of sadness filled the car. She turned toward the front, staring out the windshield as Steve barreled down the road, his focus on getting us all to what he deemed a place of safety instead of his equally harsh pang of sorrow.

“The cottage?” Naomi asked.

“We own a cottage in New Hampshire. On Paradise Cove,” Steve said and glanced in the mirror at me.

The name started a flow of memories. Paradise Cove seemed to be a mystical gateway, one where miracles happened, but I still didn’t get why they were leading the devil to such a place. “Why there?”

“Because, Paradise Cove will provide us with an army of our own,” Jennifer said, turning and meeting my gaze. “An army equipped to bury your nemesis.”

A deep chill penetrated my body and I shivered, glancing over at Damian. Ever since he shook CJ’s hand, something in him had changed. I have no idea what happened with the demon either. One minute, I was ripping the throat out of one of them and the next, the house was full of red mist. It was as if the bastards were wired with a ton of C-4, but the blast only affected the demons.

Damian leaned over. “I got a little of their magic,” he whispered in my ear and kissed my cheek before pulling away.

“What does that mean?” I didn’t intend to shout out the question, but he chuckled in response and Steve glanced back at me.

“It means your husband has been touched by more than just angel grace. He’s the one who disintegrated those demons and it was his display of power that made your car blow up like a fireworks disaster,” Steve said. “And if I’m not mistaken, he can read your mind.”

“But he doesn’t have a good handle on controlling it yet,” CJ said from the backseat.

I was getting more irritated by the second. It wasn’t their words, but their tone, like they were handling me with kid gloves, like I wouldn’t understand what they were saying and I turned, meeting Raven’s gaze.

“Do they always talk to women like they’re feeble-minded?”

Raven pressed her lips together but didn’t hide the snort of laughter. “Aye, especially when they talk about their gifts,” she said, her Irish accent coming through with her full-bodied laugh. Tom rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he kept his mouth closed and his hands still. CJ glared at his sister-in-law and then at me.

“We don’t think you’re feeble-minded,” he said. “It’s just...”

“Dude, I was a vampire,” I said, silencing everyone in the car. “When I get pissed, I turn into a fucking tiger. I’ve dealt with angels, killed demons and even danced with the fucking devil, so when you toss out lame descriptions for psychic occurrences, I tend to get irritated.” I glared at the three in the back and turned to the front, leveling the same disgust in the mirror at Steve. “I am a Mohegan warrior princess, and just because I’m a pregnant, hormonal wreck, doesn’t mean you have to treat me like an unstable idiot.”

“Mohegan warrior princess?” Damian chuckled and my glare shot to him. He raised his hands trying to show he meant no harm, but in his gaze, I saw the years of teasing I’d get for that statement.

I looked out the window and a smile found my lips. Chuckles erupted from the front passenger seat along with the row behind me.

“My grandfather used to call me his warrior princess,” I muttered and slid my gaze to Damian. I couldn’t completely suppress my smile. He grinned at me and winked.

“Well, I’m glad you’re my warrior princess,” he teased in that endearing manner that made me alternate between wanting to slap him and kiss him.

“Damn, she’s a pistol,” Steve laughed, glancing at Damian.

He grinned and nodded. “Yes, she is,” he said, oozing with pride.

Laughter filled the car and in the midst of it, Steve’s phone buzzed again. This time, he didn’t ignore the call. He answered and a panicked voice filled the car.

“Steve?”

“Hi, Sarah,” he said and glanced at his wife.

“What the hell?” the woman said and I smiled, picking up the distinct New York City accent.

“Where are you?” he asked, his laughter now fizzling out, replaced by worry lines.

“I’m on my way to your place. The police said it was a mess.”

“Steer clear of there until I call you. It’s not safe for anyone we give a damn about.”

Silence came over the line and the sound of a car slowing to a stop replaced the hum in the background.

“Did you just admit to giving a shit about me?”

I watched the exchange between Jennifer and Steve before he sighed. There was a history there that piqued my curiosity.

“Yeah. I give a shit,” he grumbled.

“Jen?”

“Hi, Sarah,” Jennifer said.

“It’s that fucking bad?”

Another exchange and then Jennifer glanced back at me as she answered. “Worse than you can possibly imagine, but we’re all alive and breathing, so...”

“You know I can’t just make excuses and not show up.”

“If she has to go, tell her to steer clear of anyone she doesn’t know. And don’t say anything about talking to us,” I said, staring at Jennifer. “Otherwise, you’ll never see her again.”

“Who the hell is that?” Sarah barked and after that, she said, “Is that the girl from the hospital? Did you find those two psychos?”