Beautifully Unnatural: A Young Adult Paranormal Boxed Set (103 page)

She listened for the sirens to arrive. Her head throbbed at the memory of being taken from the car accident. Her hands trembled at the thought of being locked away again. The smell of disinfectant bleached scratchy sheets and nurses with their accusatory eyes haunted her more than any monster in the night.

Demons aren’t real.

It was in her head. They were only a figment of her imagination, something her psyche developed to blame someone,
or something
, for her mother’s death. At least that was what her shrink kept telling her.

She forced air into her lungs. The crawling on her skin only intensified and she fought the desire to scream.

“I think you’re still in shock,” a girl said in a gentle voice.

Gabby forced her gaze away from the guy and looked over his left shoulder. A girl about her age, her dark-brown hair framing her face in a cute bob, stood next to him. Bright white teeth shone in a reassuring smile.

The guy leaned in closer, a little too close for comfort, snapping her attention back to him. An awkward tension filled her for a moment, but as she stared into his penetrating gaze, her soul infused with peace. The thousands of flesh eating beetles devouring her skin ceased and air filled her lungs.

“It was…” She rubbed her temples, trying to ease the dull ache that was growing behind her eyes.
How could she tell them that four sea monsters,
straight from her recurring nightmares,
had tossed her around like a basketball?
They’d think she was insane and probably have her committed…again. “…a shark. I thought it was a shark.” It was the only thing that popped into her head.

“Really?” The girl’s voice rose an octave. “I didn’t see a shark, but I’ve seen some out there before.”

“Here, I’ll help you up.” The guy barely grasped her arm, yet lifted her to her feet with ease. Her body warmed, as if he’d wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into a hug.

“Thanks,” she murmured, embarrassed. As his hand clasped hers, more warmth flowed up her arm, reminding her of her mother’s touch. Then his touch was gone and the feeling dissipated.

“My name’s Alexander Lohr,” he said, dimples appearing beside his full lips. His chiseled cheekbones, strength, and sexy voice twisted her stomach in knots and she could feel her embarrassment creeping up her neck and onto her cheeks. Alexander’s brows rose. “What’s yours?”

“Oh, right. I’m Gabriella Di—” She sucked in a breath at the realization of her slip. “Gabriella Moore,” she corrected, “but I go by Gabby.” That was always the most difficult part of moving and changing identities all the time, remembering her new last name. Perhaps someday she’d get to choose, but for now the government chose for them, it was the price they paid for her father’s job. Praying they hadn’t noticed her slip, she glanced over at the girl standing next to him.

“I’m Sammy, his sister,” the girl said, tilting her head toward Alexander. “We’re twins.”

Gabby arched a brow scanning Alexander’s large frame and light hair compared to Sammy’s dark hair and petite frame.

She shook her head, her short dark hair wafting back and forth. “Fraternal, not identical.”

A sudden chill reminded her of the rain pelting down on them and she wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. The day had started out so peacefully.

Alexander retrieved her shirt, beach towel, art supplies, and discarded drawings. “What’re these?” he asked, lifting two blurred pictures from under the supply box. His soaked shirt gaped open, exposing more tan skin and well-defined muscles. Her eyes stuck to his body for a second too long, until her mind processed what he was holding.

She quickly stepped forward then halted, forcing herself not to overreact. It would only make them more curious. But her heart was fluttering faster than humming bird wings. “Uh, just crazy ideas I come up with,” she said, trying to sound casual.

“They’re good.” He eyed one of them for a moment then pointed at the dark-horned figure, bleeding down the page. “Is this a monster?”

“I, uh, guess you could call it that.” She toed the sand, not wanting to expose herself any more than she already had.

He looked between the two drawings. “They look like something straight out of a nightmare,” he said, almost absently.

Gabby stared at him in disbelief.
How did he… No, there’s no way he could know that.

He handed them to her, along with the supply box. “You’re a gifted artist. These are sick.”

Gifted? Sick? Which was it?
“Um…thanks.”

“You been drawing long?” Sammy asked.

“All my life, but… just this kind of stuff for the last year or so.” She tucked the ruined pictures inside the supply box then hugged it against her chest. When Sammy gave her an odd look, she couldn’t help but bite her bottom lip.

“What happened?” Sammy asked.

“I’m sorry?” Gabby said, confused by the girl’s question.

“What happened a year ago that would make you want to create such dark pictures?”

Instantly, familiar and deep, stabbing pain of loss pierced her heart and she inhaled sharply, fighting to keep her composure. “Just seemed interesting, I guess.” Clutching her belongings to her chest, she started back down the beach. “I should get home. My father’s due back any time and he tends to worry.”

Not taking the hint, Sammy followed her down the path that led to her father’s shack. “Why don’t we stop by tomorrow to check on you?”

That couldn’t happen. She couldn’t chance her father coming home early. The last thing Gabby wanted to do was get back in the water, but she didn’t want Sammy or Alexander running into her father. She stole a quick glance back at Alexander. He stood there with an air of confidence. Yet his eyes were soft. “How ‘bout we meet here instead.”

“Sounds good. We’ll be here mid-morning, say ten-ish.” Sammy yelled over her shoulder before she jogged back toward the beach.

“Tomorrow then,” Alexander said, his deep voice carrying on the wind.

Gabby nodded then raced to the house. If her father beat her home, there’d be hell to pay.

The sun was setting and she needed to get dinner. She swatted gnats from her face as she slowed at her back yard. Breathless, she opened the door and stopped short. Her father was glowering at her from his favorite brown chair. She sucked in a quick breath.

Which father was it today? Mean drunk or supportive dad?

Chapter Two

Alexander looked out over the ocean. Only a few minutes ago he’d carried Gabby’s small, limp body onto the beach, her long blond hair full of seaweed, her tan skin marked with demon burns. He’d been keeping watch from afar since Gabby had arrived that morning, but the attack had been so sudden and unexpected. Still, he cursed under his breath, angry with himself for not keeping her safe.

Laughter caught his attention then a dark shadow emerged from the waves. Forras marched onto the beach, his thick wart-like gray skin turning flesh as four horns slid into a shrinking forehead. When pink lips formed, they spread wide across his face into a menacing smirk.

Three more demons from Forras’ clan followed. One slithered from the waves,
his long tail swished, cracking in the air like a whip, the rattlesnake-like end hissed. Another followed with
spikes along his back that slid into his skin while his bones crackled. And the last one galloped on all fours with shinning yellow eyes that glowed then faded into human form.

Alexander shook with rage. A vibration shot from vertebrae to vertebrae up Alexander’s spine. His muscles twitched and bones cracked, but no wings emerged.

“Stay calm,” Sammy warned. “You don’t want to do something to attract hunters.”

A brown dog he’d seen around the beach charged from the brush and snarled. He usually found the dog annoying following him around all the time, but in this case, he found the dog useful. “Don’t worry. None of us want hunters around here.”

Forras signaled the other demons to stay at the water’s edge. He walked toward Alexander, his gait loose and cocky. “If it isn’t the white knight.”

Alexander’s fists clenched tight. He wanted to fight, to drive them out of the area. Hadn’t Gabby been tortured enough? He took a step forward.

The dog barked as if to warn Alexander to stay away.

One of the demons waved his hand and the wind picked up, creating a wall of sand, sending the dog retreating to the woods.

Damn demons and their control of nature.

“Go back to Hell where you belong, Forras. You’ve had your fun.” Alexander swatted the sand away.

“If you’re not enjoying our game, then leave.” Forras glanced at the others then turned back with a grin. “Oh, that’s right. You’re impotent. You can’t even get your wings up.”

Alexander’s rage boiled to the surface. Wings or no wings, he’d take this smug demon out.

“Still nothing back there?” Forras leaned to the side, as though trying to see around to Alexander’s back. “Too bad you killed that woman. Maybe if you’d saved her you could still fly.”

Visions of their last encounter that ended a woman’s life flashed and Alexander lunged forward, tackling Forras to the ground. Forras kicked Alexander in the ribs, sending him several feet into the air. Alexander’s back slammed against the packed sand. Before he could get back up and tackle Forras again, Sammy landed between them, her rose-hued wings spread wide, each shimmery feather fluttering in the sea breeze. “Do you want hunters to find and slaughter us all?”

Forras ignored her warning. “Need your little sis to save you, do you?”

Sammy fisted her hands and stood tall. “It’s time to go.”

As Alexander slowly climbed to his feet, Forras snarled at him, the demon’s eyes mutating from bright green to blood orange. Red lines erupted outward from the pupils. Bones and tendons cracked as Forras’ body pulled and stretched. His ashen skin bubbled and contorted. Four horns protruded from his skull, two on either side of his head. In full demon form, Forras bounded into the brush.

The other three demons followed.

“Stay away from Gabby,” he shouted.

The stench of rotting garbage lingered in the air, causing stinging acid to bubble up Alexander’s throat into his mouth. Over a year on Earth and he still couldn’t control the retched bodily functions and emotions inherent with this form.

“Don’t worry,” Sammy said as she folded her wings. The pale pink light shrouding her body faded as the wings disappeared into her tiny human frame. “Gabby’s home with her father. She should be fine.”

Alexander gave her a stiff nod then took the path toward home, his body still shaking with disgust. What good was he? An angel without the power to fly, transport long distances without movement, heal a human, or any other gifts, wasn’t an angel at all.

Sammy trotted after him. “There’s no turning back now, you know. Now that you’ve saved her, Forras will target her. He won’t give up. You need to be careful. I don’t think it was wise to start something with him again. Besides, I don’t want to have to leave Kemp because you two had a hissy fit and brought hunters to our area.”

The muscles in his face twitched with agitation. He hated when she was right. “I’m always careful. We won’t have to move,” he muttered.

“By saving Gabby, you just challenged Forras. He was using her as a play thing, but now she’s been marked.”

“Fun? He almost killed her.” Alexander gritted his teeth.

“He wouldn’t kill her, he wants to torture, not kill people and you knew that. That’s why we’re here, right? You said you wanted to protect those susceptible to demons. It was your idea to attend high school since we were put into these young human frames. Isn’t that why we go to high school and make friends, to save as many souls as we can? We guide and protect these humans from the ultimate sacrifice, but there is no way to keep them from their everyday harassment. It would be impossible and Forras knows that. He baits you and you fall for it every time.”

Alexander had said all that and more, but he couldn’t stand by and watch Forras torture her. It took everything he had not to hold her in his arms and drive the darkness from her soul on the beach. “It might have been reckless, but I didn’t reveal our kind to her. He took things too far with this girl, Gabby. And if we swore to protect then that’s what I’m going to do.”

“You’re right, she does need our protection now that Forras marked her. We both know he intends on taking this to the next level, but you can’t do it alone. I’ll help.”

Alexander continued walking, but she flew in front of him and landed with arms crossed, showing him she had superior abilities now. He should be grateful she wanted to help, but instead he envied her. “Fine.”

Her wings furrowed into a pink light then disappeared behind her. “I have an idea. I can use cheerleading as a reason to stick around. What high school girl doesn’t want to be a cheerleader?”

She spun on her heel and jogged up the path to the tree line. Finally, their white Victorian-style house came into view, the sight warming his chest. The brown dog pranced in front of their home as if he lived there. Darn dog took off when he was most needed and now he wanted food?

He reached the end of the steps and eyed the front porch. Situated on the edge of the beach, he usually loved to sit on the swing with Grace and Sammy, watching the waves, but he didn’t feel like having their company right now, nor a dog that followed him around.