“It’s listed under Red,” she said.
My blood rushed wildly.
“Excuse me,” I said to the redhead as politely as I could.
The girl stopped talking and peered at me. “Do you mind?” she asked me.
Kaidan opened his mouth as if to diffuse the situation, but I stood my ground.
“Yeah, actually,” I said to her. “I do mind. I need to talk to him.”
Kai pressed his lips together as if suppressing a surprised grin, and the girl’s eyes popped at my nerve.
Kaidan turned to the girl. Her cocked knee brushed his thigh and her aura burst red.
“Well, it was nice meeting you,” he said.
She beamed and put her thumb to her ear like a phone. I wanted to escort her out of the store myself. Finally she left with a flutter of eyelashes and a red-hot aura.
I took a breath to compose myself and leaned forward to grab a pen and paper from the table. He read the question as I wrote: Is your father in town?
“No.” His voice was smooth as he crumpled the paper in his fist. “Is yours?”
The intensity of his sudden stare was an assault on my senses. I’d forgotten the force of those blue eyes, even brighter as they reflected the azure of his shirt.
Shaking myself out of it, I registered his words. Why was he asking about my father? My dad wasn’t a threat.
“No.” I couldn’t look away from his eyes, which held overwhelmingly intense emotion.
Yeah, well, two could play that.
“Give me your phone.” I held out my hand.
His lip quirked up and he fished out the cell, placing it in my open palm. Holding his eyes, I scrolled to “Red’s” entry and deleted her contact info before passing the phone back. He stepped closer, warmth radiating between us.
Like a heat lamp, his eyes traveled down the length of my body. I stood very still to let him browse. The sleeveless cream shirt was lower cut than anything he’d seen me wear—it might’ve showed cleavage if I had any. The short brown skirt and cute wedges made my legs appear longer. Watching him look me over, I flushed. Nobody else could make me hot like that from a single look. Nobody. His eyes reached my face again, traveling to my ear and the double forward helix piercings, then across to the freckle above my lips.
I swear a growl came from his throat.
I opened up my sense of smell and breathed deep. Kai’s invisible cloud of pheromones went straight to my head, threatening to buckle my knees. Zesty and sweet. Alive and healthy. A wave of nostalgia blanketed me. As my hand touched his shoulder he grasped my wrist and held it.
He stepped closer, not letting me go. “You shouldn’t have come.”
I nearly faltered from the sting of his words and the fire in his eyes. “I know.”
He still held my wrist at his shoulder, and I felt his thumb caress the tender skin beneath my palm. I shivered and he set my hand on his shoulder, running his fingers down the length of my arm.
When his fingers reached my shoulder he slowly dropped his hand to my hip and asked in a low, conflicted voice, “Then why are you here?”
“Because we need to talk.”
“Talk is overrated.”
The way he soaked in every detail of me dazed my wits. Now he took my other wrist and raised it. He stopped and ran his thumb across a freckle on my wrist, so tiny I don’t know how he noticed it. He kissed the spot, his lips soft and hot, making my heart splutter in my chest.
I tried to pull my hands back, but he grasped my wrists and pulled them even higher, draping them around his neck. The look in his eyes dared me to pull away again. I sunk my fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.
“I’m trying to talk to you,” I said.
“Yes, I know. But I’d rather not.”
In one step he had me against the table, the back of my thighs hitting the edge as he pressed his body flush against mine.
A whimpering gasp sounded from my lips.
I tried not to stutter, grasping his hair tighter. “I need you to be serious.”
His blue eyes scorched me. “Oh, I’ve never been more serious.” He leaned his face down to mine, and I wrenched my head to the side.
“You’re trying to distract me.”
His lips skimmed my neck. “I’ve no clue what you mean.”
Oh, his voice.
“I’m serious,” I said, hoping I sounded stronger than I felt. “We have unfinished business, Kai.”
He turned my head back to face him and breathed his next words against my mouth. “I’d say we have quite a bit of unfinished business, little Ann.” He took my hips in his hands and leaned his body hard against mine. “Wouldn’t you?”
“I . . . My whole body was shaking. “That’s not what I meant.”
One of his hot hands dipped down over my hip, cupping the bare skin of my leg, where it slid up. And up. “Right. So, you never think about our unfinished business, then?”
I was breathing way too hard and his hand had ventured way too high before I finally reached down and gave it the stiff-arm. “Stop.”
He ran his tongue along his bottom lip and removed his hand. Everything inside me turned to mush.
I had to be strong.
“Don’t act like all you feel for me is lust,” I said, pressing my palms against his hard stomach and pushing him away. “I saw you stand at the summit.”
His eyes hit mine again, jarring me with their sudden anger, and he moved forward, insistent on caging me in with his fists on the tabletop. “You want to talk about that night? The night you almost got yourself killed? What do you want me to say, Anna? Would you like to hear how it was the worst bloody night of my life?”
My eyes burned. All the things I’d carefully planned to say fled my mind.
“It doesn’t have to be like this—”
“Anna, don’t. Don’t do this.” In his eyes was a torment—an anguish I’d never seen before, followed by a resolute hardness. “If you want to finish what we started last summer, I can take you in the back room and get this out of our systems once and for all, but that is all I can offer you.”
I gave a small wail and shoved him away from me, practically panting with sheer frustration. A satisfied look crossed his face.
The store manager began walking our way. Kaidan held up a hand to show we were almost finished, and the man nodded.
Before he could talk again, I said, “If you don’t care anymore, just say it.”
“It doesn’t matter who bloody well does or doesn’t care,” he ground out. “They’ll never leave us alone. And even if they did, you and I are too different.”
“We’re not—”
“We are.”
“No,” I said. My voice was thick. “I . . . these past months . . . I’ve had to change.”
His demeanor softened around the edges. “You’ve been working?”
I nodded and took interest in my pretty, manicured nails, afraid to let him see the shame in my eyes. “So, we’re not as different as you think,” I said.
“Really?” I sensed his dry humor coming on. “Have you had a romp, yet?”
My eyes popped wide and I caught him flashing a partial sexy grin. Warmth crept up my neck.
“No,” I said.
His next words were filled with teasing menace. “You can turn seventeen, change your look, and be right bang tidy, but that doesn’t mean you’ve changed.”
What did he just call me?
Flustered, I blurted, “I’ve kissed lots of guys.”
Idiot. It was true, but still. What was I trying to prove? My “work” was nothing compared to what he and the others had to do.
At my admission Kai’s grin froze in place.
“Do you still pray every night?”
I paused then answered, “Yes.”
“If you want an equal,” he responded quietly, “go talk to Kope. If you want a shag”—he tapped his chest—“then I’m your man.”
A flash of darkness crossed his face.
I ignored the shag line, knowing he was attempting to deter me. “I don’t want Kope,” I whispered.
“Yet,” he whispered back.
Oh, Kai. Staring at him, seeing his turmoil, I wanted to feel his face, to take away his worries and pain.
“All you have to do is say the word, Kai, and I’m yours, in heart if nothing else.”
His head tilted down to me, eyes alight. “You’ll never be mine. Go live your life.”
I shut my eyes. I wished I could get inside his head and crawl through the passageways to the secret rooms until I found the one labeled with my name. How could I shatter that steel door and see what lay hidden inside?
Kaidan kept his gaze on the ceiling, but his voice was softer when he spoke, almost regretful. “It’s time for you to go. Spirits could show at any moment. And someone is picking me up soon. I’d rather you weren’t here.”
“Who?” I couldn’t help myself. “A girl?”
“No, not a girl.” He looked me straight in the eye when he answered. “A woman.”
My stomach turned and I felt young and stupid and inadequate.
“Please . . . ,” he said. “Just go.”
My whole face was hot now. The store owner kept glancing over, as if considering shooing me away.
Last chance.
I lay a hand on his forearm. His skin was hot, and the hard muscle jumped under my fingers. His red badge gave a great throb, as did my heart.
“Hang out with me tonight,” I said, knowing it was stupid and dangerous. “Come to my place. Patti would love to see you, too. I’ve only seen one whisperer in the past two weeks.”
For one gorgeous moment his face relaxed and he revealed something wistful, like a child. His gaze roamed my face. And just as quickly he barricaded himself back in his mind and huffed through his nose.
“I can’t,” he ground out, tugging his arm from under my touch. “Like I said, I have plans. You need to go.”
“Fine,” I said.
He gave me a single nod, my cue to leave. But still I stood there until the manager walked up and said, “Young lady, the store is closing now.”
I stared at Kaidan, but he wouldn’t look at me.
My feet were concrete blocks as I turned and stepped away.
“Little Ann,” he called.
I spun back, and my heart was crushed by the regret on his face. His arms were crossed.
“Don’t change too much.” With that he looked away, and the manager directed me to the exit.
I left the music shop and the door chime jingled overhead. My entire being protested against leaving Kai. I glanced through the windows as I walked past and saw him leaning with his fists against the table, head down, eyes shut tight.
“You okay?” Jay asked when I climbed in the driver’s seat, shaking all over.
“Not really.” All I could do was stare at the store entrance. Like a masochist, I knew I wouldn’t leave until I saw this girl—this woman he was expecting.
“You weren’t in there very long,” Veronica said, leaning through the space between the front seats.
“He didn’t really have much to say.” From the corner of my eye I saw Jay and Veronica exchange worried glances.
“So . . . do you feel like you have closure now?” Veronica asked.
“No.”
Kaidan would be listening to this conversation with his extended Nephilim hearing, but I didn’t care. I was focused solely on the shiny black sedan now pulling up to the curb. The driver got out, a tall, dark-skinned man in a suit, and waited by the back passenger door. Kaidan exited the store, and I held my breath as the driver opened the car door and a woman stepped out.
“Hey, there’s Kaidan!” Veronica said. “Who’s that lady?”
“His ride,” I whispered.
All three of us leaned forward to see the woman. She appeared to be in her early forties. and sexy in a weird sort of vampire way. She had black hair to her waist and wore a short red dress. Everything about her screamed fake: too-thick eyelashes, too-high boobs, too-long nails with polish the color of blood.
Dear God, not her. Kai hadn’t wanted me to see—hadn’t wanted me to know.
Kaidan shot a glance over his shoulder, straight to me, and I froze. Such hard, empty eyes. His expression made my breath stick in my chest. See, those eyes seemed to say, we’re different. This is my life and that is yours.
His attention was on the woman again. She extended a hand to Kaidan, who air-kissed it before ducking in the car.
Ants and spiders seemed to scurry across my skin, taking bites of me.
“Is that a freaking hooker?” Veronica hollered.
“No.” I cleared my dry throat. She was something much worse. “She’s a friend of his father.”
We watched in silence as the driver closed the door. Then Jay said, “Maybe she’s one of the old models for Pristine.” But he looked a little creeped out as we watched the sedan pull away.
“I don’t know, Anna,” Veronica said, settling back into her seat now. “There’s something weird about him, like he’s into sketchy stuff or something. You’re way too good for him.”
“No,” I began, but my voice caught. They wouldn’t understand.
I couldn’t say anything else as I started the car to take us home. I felt like a zombie going through the driving motions, merging onto the highway.
At that moment, Kaidan was riding in a car with Marissa, the notorious madam of an underground sex trafficking ring—orchestrating the slavery of girls from around the world. He would be working tonight, training her “nieces” about their sexuality and ways to please men. And here I was going home with my two friends, to a mother who loved me, and a chick-flick rental with popcorn and sweet tea, even if part of me would be watching out for evil spirits the whole time.
I swerved onto the shoulder and threw open the door, getting sick on the gravel while cars zoomed by. I could hear Veronica yelling, and felt Jay’s hand on my back.
But all I could think about was the boy I loved and his empty gaze, lost to me.
CHAPTER THREE
WORDS OF THE ANGEL
When I got home, Patti’s orange aura told me she was excited to hear how things had gone with Kai. She stood in the doorway to greet me, but her smile and bright colors faded to gray when she caught sight of my face. Without a word she took me in her arms, kicking the door closed and leading me to the couch.
“Oh, sweet girl,” she said into my hair. “All night I’ve been feeling this really strange sense of peace, more than I’ve felt in a long time. I thought maybe it was a sign that good things were happening for you and Kaidan.”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, but she shushed me and wouldn’t let me go.
“You have nothing to be sorry for. And you don’t have to talk about it unless you want.” She pulled away and touched my cheeks. “Are you still up for our movie date?”
I sniffed. “I guess.”
“No spirits tonight?” she asked.
I shook my head.
She went to the kitchen to make drinks and pop popcorn. Her guardian angel, who was usually very still and focused, sort of bobbed next to her, expectant. When he stared down the hall I got up to see what was there, but it was empty. I sat again, considering asking her angel what was up, though I knew it would be a waste of time. Those spirits wouldn’t peep unless they’d been given higher permission.
I closed my eyes, trying to relax. My chest tightened every time I thought about that nasty Marissa acting like she owned Kaidan. And how he went without argument, hating himself for what he was about to do—what he was probably doing at this very moment.
My stomach turned.
“You okay?” Patti called from the kitchen. The scent of popcorn wafted my way.
“I need to wash up.”
I stood over the bathroom sink, contemplated being sick again.
As I leaned my palms against the cool ceramic basin, a sudden peace flooded every pore of my
body. I took in a cleansing sip of air and became wholly aware of one fact.
I wasn’t alone.
“Be of cheer, little one,” said a soft voice inside my mind.
I opened my eyes and turned too quickly, knocking the hand soap off the counter. A spirit’s wizened face hovered near mine, as sheer as a mirage. No trace of malevolence could be found.
Was this my mother? My heart leaped . . . but she didn’t resemble the angels I’d seen. She didn’t have wings. All I could do was stare.
“You okay in there?” Patti called.
The spirit nodded and I opened the door. Patti looked at me strangely before closing her eyes with a hand on her chest. As a human, Patti could not see spirits, but she was a sensitive woman and knew they existed.
“What’s going on, Anna?” she asked. “I feel so . . .”
“I have a visitor,” I whispered, reaching out and taking Patti’s hand.
Patti looked toward the open space, marveling. Her guardian angel was smiling—something I’d never seen him do. Like most guardians, he was always so serious, but at that moment he seemed to know something we didn’t. Something that gave him great joy.
I turned my attention back to the surreal spirit as she began to speak into my mind.
“It has been difficult to navigate the earth in this form, especially when the pull heavenward is so strong, but I’ve finally found you. Finding you was my task, in death, if not in life.”
My eyes widened and I sucked in a deep breath.
“Are you . . . Sister Ruth?”
Patti gasped and smacked her palm over her mouth, wide-eyed.
“I am.”
Unbelievable. A giant grin spread over my face and I nodded to Patti. Tears pooled in her eyes. The spirit nudged closer to me.
The nun I’d traveled to California to see one year ago had died before I’d had a chance to meet her and find out what she knew about me. And now she was here. She must have perceived my elation because her laughter was like the tinkle of silver wind chimes drifting into my conscience. I wished I could hug her.