He frowned. "Huh?"
"The red wire. You said that I had known to cut the red wire."
"Right. So?"
"I didn't tell anyone about the wire, or the color. So how could you know?"
He smiled. "Honey, you must have told us. Otherwise, how could I have known?"
"I don't know." She was being silly. What the hell would Josh know about any of this?
"Trust me, Sophie. I didn't know a damn thing. You must have told us."
"I guess so." She rubbed her forehead, a giant-sized headache forming. "I'm sorry, Josh. I'm just wigged out by all of this, I guess."
"Delayed shock, probably. Go get some rest. I'll hang out here and we can talk when you've had some sleep."
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She nodded, grateful to have him here watching over her. Climbing into the bed, she pulled her favorite blanket over her and stared out at the bright sunlight pouring through the window.
Figured. She couldn't sleep. She slipped out of bed and peered through the beaded drape. Josh had settled in on the couch, turned on the television and was sound asleep.
Something she should be doing.
But for some reason she couldn't shake the fact that she knew she hadn't mentioned the red wire. Why was she obsessing over this, anyway? She'd known Josh since they were kids, trusted him and Sam above everyone.
It had to be shock.
Still, the niggle of doubt wouldn't go away. Giving up, she picked up the phone in her bedroom and dialed the shop. Sam answered.
"Hey, quick question. What details did I give you about the bomb I found?"
"Details? None, other than you disabled it. And I'm dying to know. Why? Are you ready to tell me about it?"
Her hands began to shake as the realization hit.
No. Oh, God, no.
"Soph? What's wrong?"
She wasn't going to tell Sam about this. Not yet. Not until she'd had a chance to talk to Josh. "Nothing. I'm just tired. I'm gonna get some rest, Sam. Talk to you later."
Before Sam could ask any more questions, she hung up, curled into a ball on the bed and closed her eyes, wishing she could shut out the knowledge that pounded at her.
Josh knew. There was only one way Josh could know.
"Why couldn't you have just left it alone, Sophie?"
She shrieked at the sound of Josh's voice. Quickly sitting up, she saw him leaning in the doorway to her bedroom.
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He'd heard her on the phone with Sam!
"Josh, I--"
"Save it," he said, stepping into the room and stopping at the foot of the bed. "You don't understand."
"Don't understand what?"
Jamming his fingers into his long hair, he moved to the side of the bed. "What it's been like to stand by all these years and wonder when you're going to open your eyes and see what's right in front of you."
He crouched on the floor and took her hands in his. His felt heated, hers were like ice.
"I don't understand. Please tell me what's going on."
A madness glimmered in his eyes. Madness, and a dark magic she'd never seen within him before. How could she have missed it all these years?
"What's going on? Sophie, I love you. I've loved you since we were kids. I'm the right man for you, but you keep making stupid mistakes with men who don't deserve you. Then I have to help you pick up the pieces when pricks like Logan Storm stomp all over your heart."
This wasn't the first time Josh had opened his heart to her. "Josh, we've been through this before."
He squeezed her fingers, pain shooting in them as he tightened his grip. She winced, but he didn't notice, his gaze never wavering from her face. "You don't listen, Sophie. I had to do something to save you."
"Save me?"
"Yeah. Logan was all wrong for you. And his family, too. You don't need them. You only need me."
She closed her eyes for a second, summoning the courage to ask the question she was afraid to get the answer to. "Josh, did you plant that bomb?"
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He smiled. "Of course I did."
Every drop of blood in her body drained away, leaving a cold emptiness inside.
"Oh Josh, how could you? Do you realize what could have happened if that bomb had gone off? Everyone in that hotel could have died!"
He smirked. "I know. That was my intent. That was the vision you've been thinking about." He tried to pull her closer, but she recoiled, scooting away. His hands clenched into fists. "Soph, you have to know that I didn't plan on you being there. You know I'd never hurt you, honey!"
Nausea rolled her stomach and she wrapped her arms across it, hoping she wouldn't throw up. Tears pooled and splashed onto her cheeks. "I don't understand, Josh. This isn't like you. God, what were you thinking?"
Suddenly the Josh she'd known all these years vanished. He stood, straightening, seemingly growing taller before her. Light shone in his eyes. Evil light that seemed to travel slowly from him to her, reaching out in ways that made her fear him for the first time in her life.
"You really have never taken a look inside me, Sophie. All these years, and you never bothered to figure out who and what I am. It's about damn time you opened your eyes, don't you think?"
No. She didn't want to see, didn't want to know this Josh. She wanted the old Josh back, the one who had been her friend for life. Hell, he'd been her family. How could she have been so wrong about him?
How could she not have seen what he was? Where had her magic failed her?
He curled his finger under her chin, forcing her gaze to meet his. "Don't beat yourself up about me, love. You didn't know because I didn't let you know. My magic is much stronger than yours."
That she refused to believe.
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"Oh, believe it," he answered as if he'd dipped into her thoughts. "I thought I was exactly what you needed. So I waited. Waited, for you to come to me, to love me.
Instead, you told me you didn't feel 'that way' about me. Do you know how hard it was for me not to take you right then and there? To force the issue and make you mine whether you liked it or not? Do you know how goddamned long I've been waiting for you to realize you're meant to be with me?"
His grip on her chin tightened. She closed her eyes and summoned her magic, needing to put a wall between them, to get away from him.
Nothing happened. She tried again, forcing herself to concentrate.
"Give it up, Sophie. Your powers aren't shit compared to mine."
Her eyes whipped open and she glared at him. "You're sick, Josh. You need help."
He laughed and dragged her up against him. "I don't need help, Sophie. I love what I am, what I've always been. And I've given you years to come to me. I'm not waiting one fucking minute longer."
Wrapping his arms around her, he crushed her to him, his mouth descending on hers.
He grabbed her buttocks, grinding his hard cock against her sex. Revulsion filled her.
She gagged at the invasion of his long tongue, feeling his evil entering her. She fought, putting up a wall of resistance, using every aspect of her powers to fight him off.
He growled low in his throat, rocking against her, mimicking the sex act.
Sex weakened a man, no matter whether he was mortal or something else. She couldn't quite put a finger on his evil, but she knew if he pushed her like this, if he tried to rape her, he'd have to give up some of his power.
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And she'd continue to fight him. This wasn't the Josh she had known. Whoever he was now, he represented a danger. Not just to her, but to Logan, to the entire Storm family.
To everyone.
Josh had to be stopped, starting with her. And no matter what she had to give up, she would stop him.
He might take her physically, but he'd never get what he really wanted.
Her soul.
&nbs
p; 132
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Chapter Fifteen
Logan fought internal demons as he stood outside Sophie's shop. Passersby bumped him in their hurry to move down the street, but he didn't budge. Just stood there and looked at the store window, wondering for the hundredth time in the past fifteen minutes what the hell he was doing there.
He should just let it go, but he couldn't. There was something about what happened that didn't sit right with him, and he needed answers.
Answers from Sophie.
The bell over the door jingled as it opened. His gaze flitted to the doorway, expecting to see Sophie's face.
But it was her partner, Samantha.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, frowning.
He didn't know. What was he doing there?
"You gonna stand there and stare at the window all day or what?
Maybe.
Okay, maybe not. He walked toward her, feeling her heated anger the closer her drew toward the door. "I need to talk to Sophie."
"Tough shit. She doesn't need to talk to you."
"I didn't ask you." He stepped as close as he could without actually touching her.
"Get out of my way. I need to talk to Sophie."
"She's not here."
While he admired Samantha's protective nature, she was in his way. "Bullshit. Now move, please, or I'll move you myself."
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Heaving a disgusted sigh, Samantha turned and headed back into the shop. Logan stepped in and looked around.
No sign of Sophie. She wasn't there. Obviously she didn't want to talk to him.
Too bad. He moved through the beaded entrance to the magic room, but it was empty, too.
So was the storeroom.
Hell, she really wasn't here.
"Where is she?"
"You lost the right to know anything about her when you accused her of trying to blow up your hotel. Were you born a moron, Logan, or did you have to work extra hard to perfect it?"
"Look, Samantha, I can appreciate your 'protect the friend' persona, but I really need to talk to her. So cut the crap and tell me where she is."
"She's with Josh," Samantha said, a perversely satisfied smirk on her face.
"Josh. That...boy who works here?"
"If you say so. But then again, she's with him right now, not you, and he'll take good care of her. He always has and always will."
Always has and always will. Logan shook the feeling of dread from his head.
Bullshit magic anyway. "Never mind, I'll find her later."
"Not if Josh has anything to say about it."
He pulled hard at the front door and stormed out, heaving a breath as he stood at the sidewalk trying to get his bearings.
Something was wrong.
Danger.
Help me, Logan, please.
Logan flinched as pain rocked his stomach, fire burning within him.
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Shit! What the hell was going on?
Something was wrong.
With Sophie.
She was in danger.
How the fuck he knew that to be true was beyond his ability to even want to fathom. But he knew it.
Trouble.
Josh.
Her trailer.
Goddamit! He tore down the street and jumped into his car, throwing it in gear and speeding away from the curb as if his life depended on it.
His didn't.
Sophie's did. He had to get to her trailer fast.
*
Sophie finally managed to summon enough magic to fling Joshua away from her.
But he only laughed.
"Nice try, babe, but I'm way stronger than you."
Anger filled her as she leaped across the bed trying to avoid his advance. She summoned up her ancestors. Their strength was needed. She couldn't do this alone.
Please, please help me. I need your power, the power of what is right, what is pure. I need the light of the moon to defeat this darkness, the might of the heavens to send it back to hell where it belongs.
"I'm taking what's mine, what I should have taken years ago." Josh held up his hands. "The fires of hell surround me, their power and might stronger than light."
He had her backed into a corner with no way out. This was really, really bad.
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And bad had just gotten worse. Flames shot out from his fingertips, lighting the ends of his hair, and burning his clothes as he burst into an inferno.
The heat blasted against her. The room was so small, the trailer so small.
They'd be toast in no time.
Her blankets blazed, the trail of flames inching toward her.
She closed her eyes, refusing to give in to the fear, knowing she needed her strength now more than ever.
A wall of protection surrounded her, but Joshua's power beat against hers. She had bought herself a little time, that's all.
Very little.
*
Logan barely tapped on the brakes before he threw the car into park and leapt out.
Smoke filtered out through the kitchen windows.
He tasted fear.
And angry hatred.
Time was running out.
He flung open the door and hurried inside. A blast of heat and flame barricaded the bedroom.
Without another thought he called forth the elements, bringing a blinding rain into the trailer, dousing the flaming wall and allowing him entry into the room.
Sophie was in a corner, her face pale, her eyes closed. He sensed her concentration as her magic protected her from the whirling blaze that he assumed was Josh.
The flame turned, angry bursts of fireballs shooting in his direction as loud piercing wails followed suit.
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Obviously Josh was not happy to see him. Logan held up his hands and washed away the fireballs. "Let go of her motherfucker--now--and I might just let you live."
A sick, twisted laugh greeted him. "You're too late, Storm. She's mine!"
"I don't think so." Undaunted, he brought his full powers into the fight. Ice, rain, sleet, snow, and biting, arctic winds. Once he'd summoned them all, he stepped into Joshua's circle of fire, determined to come out of this the victor.
The ice of winter mixed with the hottest fires of hell as they battled within an invisible circle. Logan lost sight of reality and his surroundings, concentrating only on making sure he pulled every ounce of magic he possessed into the fray.
Josh was strong. Very strong.
But Logan was strong too, and had years of pent-up magic to release. Anger, frustration and a desperate fear for Sophie's life spurred him on. He hated his magic, had always hated that it made him different. But right now he was damn glad he possessed it, because it just might save them both.
Despite the burning hands reaching for his throat, trying to squeeze his life away, he held on, refusing to give up.
"You sonofabitch!" Josh cried, then the flames began to dissipate. Slowly, at first, and then rapidly as Josh became human again and collapsed, shivering as an icy cube surrounded his charred body. He was still alive, barely.
But not for long.
Logan raced to Sophie, heedless of the flames tearing through her trailer.
Whatever barrier she'd put up collapsed as soon as he approached. Her eyes widened and she began to cough, tears streaming down her ash-streaked face as she sucked in the smoke.
Logan didn't pause to say anything to her, just picked her up into his arms and carried her through the fire, dousing it around them with a cold, protective rain.
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She hung limp in his arms. As he stepped outside, she closed her eyes and lost consciousness.
He felt her pulse, which was thready, rapid one second, slowing the next. He had to get her to a hospital.
Gently depositing her in his car, he backed away
from the inferno that was once her trailer, his fierce anger fading somewhat as he took comfort in the fact that Josh was still inside.
The evil was gone. He felt it. Back to hell or wherever it had come from. Now he had more pressing things to worry about, like making sure Sophie survived.
*
Sophie woke to the sound of voices. Unfamiliar voices. She was cold, her body trembling violently.
And her throat hurt so damn badly it brought tears to her eyes. The fact she really needed to cough didn't help either.
Forcing her eyes open, she blinked against the harsh lights, taking in her surroundings.
The hospital. Emergency room. A nurse came over and smiled, adjusting the mask that delivered sweet, pure oxygen to her lungs. "Miss Breaux. You're going to be fine. A little smoke inhalation and a few small burns, but otherwise you were very lucky."
Lucky. Right. It all came back to her. Joshua, her trailer, the fact that he was some sort of demon and she'd never, ever known that. How stupid could she be?
Tears pooled and fell and she shamelessly wept for the man who had been her friend since childhood. There had to have been goodness in Joshua. He couldn't have been completely evil, or she would have felt it. She was sure of it. But something happened to him along the way, something that triggered this. Sadly, she knew what it was.
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Because she couldn't love him. Not like she loved Logan.
Lying there on the bed and staring up into the lights, Sophie had to smile at the irony. Josh loved her, but she couldn't return that love. And she loved Logan, who didn't love her back.
What a mess.
No, a nightmare.
"You have a few people waiting outside to see you," the nurse said. "Feel up to visitors?"
She nodded while the nurse pressed the remote and moved the bed so she could sit up. Waiting, hands clasped, she wondered if Logan was still here. Her memories were still a little fuzzy, but she did recall him carrying her out of the fire.
Blinking the tears back, she refused to dwell on what she couldn't change.
The curtain drew aside and Logan stepped in, followed by his parents and Samantha. Samantha ran over and hugged her.
"Oh, God, Soph, I had no idea," Samantha said, tears streaming down her face. Her friend squeezed her tight.
Sophie coughed and shook her head. "I didn't, either. None of us did, Sam. It's nobody's fault. Joshua just hid it well."
Angelina pressed a kiss to the top of her head and held her hand. "Some magic is discernable. Some isn't. Your friend was very powerful. You're lucky to be alive."
"I know." If it wasn't for Logan's heroics, she wouldn't be. She turned to him, offering a smile. "You saved my life. Thank you."
His expression was unreadable, but she sensed a tension within him. "And you saved my family's life. I'm sorry I couldn't save your trailer."