Cataclysm (4 page)

“He inhabits a raven, at least until he and my psychotic ex-girlfriend figure out some way to force one of our souls out of our bodies so that he can take control of it.”

Maybe there really wasn’t a way to not sound like a freak,
Dominic thought, playing back his own words in his mind. He took a long drink of his beer, knowing he would probably need something harder if he was ever going to get through the conversation he had been forced to have with his younger brother.

“Like
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
?” Colton had always been a lover of sci-fi, and it seemed he still hadn’t grown out of what everyone thought had only been a phase.

Dominic chuckled, remembering the movie had been the exact example he had sarcastically used when he and Kerrigan had talked the night before. “Yeah, Colt... exactly like that, except our sperm donor would be the pod person, and he’s from Hell, not the planet Mars.”

“Okay... so, tell me if I have this right... You were dating this Sinclair chick who’s apparently all into black magic. She put a spell on you to make you think you were in love with her just so she could make you comfortable enough with her that she could drug you and bind you to a headstone in the graveyard. Then, she and her coven did some sort of ceremony to separate your soul from your body, and she did all that so the guy she really wants to boink could take it over... And he just happens to be our father and has been taking up residence in a bird.”

Dominic nodded. “So far, you’re spot on.” He waved his hand for Colton to continue.

“All right, so then you’re rescued by Kerrigan’s grandmother—”

“Availia,” Dominic corrected him.

“Availia,” he amended before continuing. “Who has some sort of supernatural gift of the
Light
.” He made air quotes around the word. “And you came here to live with her so she could keep you protected, but she gets killed by step-mummy, daddykins, and a whole swarm of birds. Kerrigan comes here to live and finds out she’s got the same freaky power as her grandmother. You two hook up, but then she gets kidnapped by her gold-digging ex. You two have very poor judgment in the opposite sex, by the way.”

Dominic rolled his eyes, but Colton ignored him and kept going with his summation. “You rush back to the same graveyard to save her and end up in the same position again, so she ends up being the one to save you with said freaky power.” He took a deep breath. “Am I close?”

He didn’t mentioned the fact that his older brother was a spectral freak from midnight until the first light of dawn, but that was because Dominic had intentionally left that part out. Colton looked up to his brother throughout his entire life and Dominic just didn’t want that to change. In his little brother’s eyes, he was about as perfect as he could be, and that felt pretty damn good to him.

Dominic nodded. “So you’re up to speed, and you understand I wasn’t the one who called you. I never would have brought you back here to get involved in this shitstorm. It must have been one of Sinclair’s lackeys pretending to be me, which is exactly why I can’t let you head right back to school. You’re safer here until we can figure out some way to get rid of the threat altogether.” Dominic went silent, unsure how he could guarantee Colton’s safety. “What saved me in the end was I had gifted my soul to Kerrigan. Maybe if you...”

“Hell no!” Colton interrupted, swallowing down a gulp of beer and shaking his head adamantly. He knew what the next suggestion was going to be. “No offense, bro. She’s a hot little number and all—”

“Watch your mouth, Colt!” Dominic said harshly, his little green monster rearing its ugly head.

“Chill, Dom. I’m not out to steal your girl. I’m just saying I’m not about to give my soul to anyone.”

That was certainly understandable.

Colton cocked his head and studied his older brother. Everything he had been told sounded outrageous at best, but he had no reason to believe Dominic would make it all up. Still, it was very hard to believe. “Scientifically speaking, you do realize what you’ve described to me isn’t really possible, right?”

Colton had been away at medical school before he had shown up on the front steps of the Cruz family home. He was going to be a doctor, and a good education didn’t come cheap. In fact, his probably came at a higher price than most. Dominic had paid the bill for his little brother to be able to go to school. So had many others—with their blood. Though it had cost Dominic his humanity to work for the Cuban mafia, it had its benefits. The only problem was that Colton now only saw things in black and white. He needed to get his little brother to open his mind to the supernatural, the fantastical, and that was a subject matter in which Dominic was more than capable of schooling him.

“The soul isn’t really a body part, Colt. It’s more a philosophical assumption: your heart, your conscience... everything that makes you... well, you, in the nonphysical sense.”

Colton considered his counterargument and found it hard not to find the logic in his statement. “You have a point, bro,” he finally said. “Touché.” He clinked the neck of his beer bottle with Dominic’s before they each took another drink.

The younger sibling sat his bottle back on the table and twisted it around in a circle while the older slumped in his chair and picked at his label, not knowing what else to say.

“You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”

Dominic nodded and looked down at the table. He thought about the declarations he and Kerrigan had just shared the night before. All the secrets had finally been revealed, and there would be no more between them. He trusted her with his life. “Yeah, I really am.”

“Wow.” Colton sat back in his chair. “Dominic Michael Grayson... in love. I never thought I’d see the day when you’d settle down with just one woman.”

Dominic furrowed his brow. “Kerrigan isn’t just any woman. She’s... she’s special, man.” He looked up at his brother, the conviction in his eyes unquestionable. “I’d die for her.”

“Sounds like you nearly did.”

“Hope I’m not interrupting important male bonding time.” Kerrigan stepped into the kitchen with Millie on her heels. Dominic’s face lit up as he watched her walk over to where he sat. When she leaned over to give him a chaste peck on the cheek, he grabbed her and pulled her into his lap, dipping her back for a proper kiss.

She squealed and squirmed in his arms. “Dominic, you’re being rude to our guest,” she mumbled against his relentless lips.

He gave a disgruntled huff before sitting her upright. “Fine, but Colton’s not a guest. He’s family, and he’d better get used to the PDA because I plan on having a lot more of it.”

Kerrigan giggled and wrapped her arm around his shoulders as she casually ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. “So,” she sighed and turned her attention to said family member. “You probably think we’re all crazy, huh?”

“If I say no will you promise not to zap me?”

“Mmm... handsome and witty.” Gabe shuffled into the kitchen and took the chair beside Colton. “I think you and I just might get to be really great friends.”

“As long as that’s all you are,” Dominic muttered, earning an elbow from Kerrigan.

“Ow! I was just kidding.” He laughed and rubbed at the spot. “So, this is how it’s going to be, huh? I tell you I love you, and the abuse begins?”

“Oh, gag,” Gabe said with a dramatic roll of his eyes. He angled himself toward Colton in an attempt to ignore the happy couple, crossing his legs effeminately and leaning into the table with his chin perched in his palm. He was still feeling the effects of the seven or so bubbletinis he had consumed. “You do know they’re going to be insufferable with all their googly-eyed bullshit, right? I say we put ourselves out of our misery now and drop them in the Everglades for gator bait. What do you think, hot stuff?”

Colton chuckled, looked at Dominic and Kerrigan, and then back at Gabe. “I think I like where your mind is going.”

“Oh, honey.” Gabe sighed and then ran one dainty finger along Colton’s forearm, ogling him suggestively. “You have no idea the places my twisted little mind can take you.”

Dominic interrupted the conversation when he stood abruptly, forcing Kerrigan to her feet. “Ooookay... I think it’s time for bed. Colton, you’re taking Kerrigan’s room.” He aimed a pointed glare at Gabe before continuing. “And I’m finding a bolt lock for the door.”

Gabe’s jaw dropped open, and he placed a hand to his chest, feigning insult.

“Dominic!” Kerrigan playfully chastised him, but she knew if that lock wasn’t in place, her best friend would surely find some way to sneak in that room to “accidentally” cop a feel of their guest in his sleep.

Dominic ushered Colton out of the kitchen. Gabe waved his fingers and called after him, “Nighty-nighty, scrumptious! Have sweet, sweet dreams... of what you
could
have had.”

Dominic was brought back to the present. Kerrigan was right. Then again, she usually was. He needed to tell his brother about what he had become. Secrets had come between him and the woman he loved, and he had almost lost her because of them. He was resolved not to let the same thing happen with his brother.

With a heavy sigh of resignation, he looked over at her to tell her he intended to come clean, but she was already fast asleep. Usually she sat up with him, but he knew she had been exhausted over the last few weeks. It was probably residual weakness from all the Light she exerted when she rescued him for the second time. It didn’t help that they had been going at it like a couple of hormonal teenagers since their declarations of love, either.

He swept his spectral hand over her cheek and smiled when she snuggled deeper into her pillow. He would let her sleep. She needed the rest. In a way, he envied her. He didn’t dare try to sleep in his ghost form, afraid he might not wake up. To pass the time, he picked up the acoustic guitar Availia had given him when he moved in and climbed out onto the balcony to play a lonely song that would only fall on deaf ears.

Kerrigan and Gabe made their way down the steps that led from the porch to the backyard, along with their friends and neighbors, Olivia and Sydney. Kerrigan couldn’t help but smile as masculine laughter floated up to greet her. She immediately sought out Dominic among the males situated in a semicircle before her. It was no real chore. She always knew where he was.

Kicked back in the chaise lounge like he didn’t have a care in the world, he looked like a rock god. His signature button-fly jeans were perfectly worn and cut like they were specifically tailored for his form. The vintage rock T-shirt—the choice of the day being Pink Floyd—outlined his muscular physique exquisitely. His black Doc Martens had seen better days, but that was the way he liked them. Dominic wasn’t one for high fashion, but he was all man. His physical attributes could rival those of highly paid male models any day of the week.

And he was hers. All hers.

Long, thick lashes framed his captivating eyes as they crinkled up with laughter. All of his perfect, white teeth showed through his wide grin. Her heart did a little flip-flop at the untainted vision. There was a gentle relaxation of his shoulders, a lazy curve to his spine, and a smoothness of skin devoid of frown lines and the wrinkled brow that seemed to be constantly etched in worry. It felt good to see him so carefree. Of course, it was kind of hard to be wound up in present company.

Tyson and Talon were identical twins, each having blond hair, grey eyes, and beautifully tanned skinned—the typical surfer sort. But there were differences that made it easy to tell them apart. While Talon was tall and slender, Tyson was beefier and had a huge goofy side. Each of them bore one dimple in opposite cheeks. It just so happened that they dated Kerrigan’s neighbors and childhood friends, Sydney and Olivia.

The twins had been hanging out with Dominic and Colton while Sydney and Olivia ran errands with her and Gabe. The guys had been doing more repairs to her grandmother’s old house, and it was in much better shape than it had been when she first arrived. The disrepair of the house was one of the many excuses she used to keep Dominic there instead of out looking for a job.

He was stubborn over the whole employment issue. Kerrigan had plenty of inheritance money for them both to live off of, but he said it made him feel like less of a man, that he should be the one supporting her, not the other way around.