Charade (6 page)

“What the hell was that thing?” Cole asked Sam. He was staring at him with awe.

Sam ignored him and jumped up to stalk through the door toward me. “Heven?”

“I’m all right.”

Sam reached me and roughly grabbed the scroll out of my hands with a muffled curse and stuffed it into one of the many pockets in his cargo khaki pants. “I told you to run.”

“I tried.”

“Not hard enough.” His arms were shaking.

Cole came up behind him. “You’re yelling at her?” His tone was incredulous. “Are you kidding me? That thing was trying to hurt her!” He turned to me, his eyes softening. “Why was it trying to hurt you? Are you okay?” His aura was a wreck and I closed my eyes to spare myself the visual overload. Well, that and the fact I didn’t like what was coming through all those colors.

“We’re leaving,” Sam said, taking my hand.

“I have to wait until my replacement gets here,” I said tightly, pulling my hand from his and went back inside and began picking up all the contents of my spilled bag off the floor. Sam followed with Cole close behind, flinging questions left and right.

“What was that thing? How did you make it disappear like that? Have you ever seen it before?”

Sam spun to face Cole. “What are you doing here?” Anger clear in his voice.

“I came to see Heven.”

“Stay away from Heven.”

“It’s a good thing I was here or that thing would have hurt her.”

Like a whip, jealousy and rage slapped over me. I was a little stunned at the intensity of Sam’s feelings. I shoved the remaining items in my bag and ran to Sam’s side.
Please, Sam, calm down. Don’t do this. Not here. Not now.

“Cole, please,” I begged.

Cole glanced at me. “What the hell is going on?”

“We’ll explain everything,” I told him.

Heven, you know we can’t.

I ignored Sam’s voice in my head to say to Cole, “But not here, not now.”

He looked mutinous as I hurried to right the overturned chairs and pick up the mess the demon caused. He was about to start questioning us again as my replacement came in, and we all quickly switched into fake, happy versions of ourselves. Minutes later, we were all on the sidewalk, relieved to be out of the place. Sam wrapped his arm around my waist and drew me into his side. It felt good to be there. Safe. But it also felt gross. I reached into my jumbled purse and pulled out some yummy-smelling hand sanitizer and held it out to Sam.

“Do you know where your hand just was?”

He looked at me like I had lost my mind, but then he held out his hand.

I gave him extra.

“This is so unmanly.” He grumbled as he rubbed his hands together. I ignored him.

“We’re alone now,” Cole said, his eyes meeting mine. Sam stiffened and I felt his muscles ripple. I hooked my arms around Sam’s waist, anchoring myself even closer and focused on Cole.

“Later, okay?”

“This is because of him, isn’t it?” he said, tossing a look to Sam.

“No!” I gasped.

“I told you he wasn’t good for you.”

“Cole!” I demanded. “We’re friends, but you don’t get to talk to Sam like that. Not ever.”

“Cole?” From down the sidewalk his mother called for him. He turned and I caught a look at her. She pretended I wasn’t even there.

She hates me.
I told Sam.

Who is that?

Cole’s mother.

“Let’s go,” Sam said, ushering me away, his body blocking most of mine from view.

“I’ll call you later,” Cole called to me.

“Don’t bother,” Sam growled.

In the truck, I was sandwiched between Sam and Logan.

Sam took a moment to rev the truck’s engine and stare out the windshield before turning to look at me. “You’re bleeding,” he said stiffly.

“I am?” I became aware of a sharp stinging in my cheek. I reached up to touch the cut and my fingers came away red. “Oh.” I guess that explained why my replacement kept looking at me funny.

There was still anger in Sam’s eyes, but he was gentle as he used the hem of his T-shirt to wipe away the blood. To my embarrassment, tears sprang into my eyes.

“It’s all right,” Sam murmured, tucking the hair behind my ear. His anger seemed to lessen as he studied me.
I’m sorry I was late.
His voice vibrated through my head and soothed away some of my anxiety.

“What’s the deal with that Cole guy?” Logan asked over my shoulder.

Just like that, the angry glint was back in Sam’s eyes.

“Nothing, he’s just a friend,” I hurried to say. Couldn’t Logan tell Sam was upset enough already?

“He doesn’t look at you like a friend.”

A quiet growl vibrated Sam’s chest and I turned to give Logan a look of disapproval. I swear he smirked without moving his face. I wished, not for the first time, that I could see his aura. But, since he was a hellhound, just like Sam, I couldn’t and I was left to wonder what exactly was going on in his head.

I didn’t much like the feeling.

It was a little startling to realize that I have actually grown accustomed to my ‘supernatural’ ability of seeing auras. Somehow, without realizing it, knowing exactly what someone was feeling became a normal thing for me.

Sam lightly touched my cheek with his thumb and frowned. “Does it hurt?”

I shook my head and looked down at my lap. Unfortunately, another normal for me lately was being weak while Sam twisted himself inside out to protect me. I was strong, but fighting off demons with super-human strength was something that I still wasn’t able to do.

What happened?
Sam asked.

I looked over at Logan. “How about some pizza tonight?”

“Cool,” he said giving me a real smile. I smiled back, taking advantage of a moment to hopefully get a little closer to him. Maybe if he began to like me, he wouldn’t see me as a threat to his relationship with Sam and he would give trying to get between us a rest.

When we arrived at the pizza place, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the tips I made that day and handed it all to Logan. “Get whatever you want, okay?”

“Thanks, Heven,” Logan said, opening up the truck door and jumping out. Sam and I watched as he ran across the parking lot toward the pizza place. As soon as he disappeared inside the door, Sam turned to me.

“So that demon just walked in?”

I nodded. “I walked into the break room to get my bag, and when I came out, it was standing in the center of the room.”

“Why didn’t you run?”

“It was standing between me and the door. I tried to get around it, but…” I shook my head and a muscle ticked in the side of Sam’s jaw.

“How did Cole get involved?”

“He came in earlier to get some ice cream with his mom and she wasn’t very nice to me,”

“What do you mean, she wasn’t nice to you?” His eyes narrowed. “You said she hates you.”

“She does. The intensity of her aura practically attacked me. At first, she was nice, until Cole told her my name. Then everything about her changed; it’s like she couldn’t stand the sight of me.”

“You’ve never met her before?”

“No.”

Sam seemed to find this surprising.

I sighed. “Cole and I are friends, Sam. That’s it.”

Energy seemed to drain right out of him before my eyes. “I believe you,” he said, reaching out and bringing me closer. I rested my cheek against his chest and closed my eyes. “What else?” he prompted softly.

“His mother made some lame excuse about getting something from the bakery next door and ran out. He went after her. I guess he was coming back to apologize for her weird behavior, but when he walked in that demon was there… he was only trying to protect me.”

He snorted. “Well I guess he did give that demon someone else to beat up on until I got there. He might be good for something after all.”

I smacked him in the ribs. “Not funny.”

“You know you can’t tell Cole what’s going on.”

“He’s going to want to know.”

Sam pulled me back to stare down into my eyes. “I don’t think Cole should get involved, Hev. Please.”

I nodded, a little lost in his whiskey-colored eyes. He covered my lips with his and I automatically opened further to allow his tongue to sweep inside. We shared too few moments like this lately. During the past two weeks, all we have had time for was settling Sam in his new efficiency apartment, work and, of course, settling Logan into Sam’s life. The latter took a lot of effort. Not to mention that every time we turned around, another creepy demon was trying to kill me.

I’ve missed you,
I whispered through Sam’s mind. I refused to say the words out loud because I needed the contact of our lips.

Me too.

Too soon, Logan was getting back in the truck and Sam was pulling away. I tried not to pout as Sam steered the truck in the direction of his apartment. I don’t think I was successful because Sam hooked and arm around my waist and slid me over so that we were pressed side to side.
You and me, time alone… tonight.

“I got your favorite toppings, Sam,” Logan said.

“Thanks, bro.”

“I walked over to the Red Box while you were at work and I rented us an action movie for tonight,” Logan said enthusiastically.

I suppressed the urge to groan. Seems our party of two just turned into a party of three.

*   *   *

Half way through the movie, my cell rang. I jumped up from my seat on the sofa and hurried to dig the phone out of my bag. “Hello?” I kept my voice low, so as not to disturb the boys and walked into only separate room in Sam’s apartment—the bathroom.

“What happened today with Cole?” Kimber demanded as I shut the door behind me.

My stomach clenched. Could Cole have told her what happened with the demon earlier? Trying to come up with an explanation for them both would not be easy. Kimber would never let this go. “What do you mean?” I asked innocently.

“He told me that he was too tired to come shopping with me, but then he went out for ice cream, for the
second
time today.”

I sighed. “He just brought his mom in for some.”

“He brought Christine in for ice cream?” Her voice took on a high-pitched tone and I winced. Had she not known that his mother was with him? “
You
met Christine?”

Clearly, Kimber was on a first-name basis with Cole’s mother. I don’t know why, but it bothered me. I told myself that of course she would be, she’s been dating Cole for years and it’s only natural that she would know his mother.

“Heven,” Kimber demanded, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I sat down on the edge of the toilet seat. “Yeah, I met her. She didn’t like me.”

This gave Kimber a reason to pause. “What do you mean?”

“As soon as Cole told her my name, the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. She couldn’t get out of there fast enough.”

“Really? Christine is always so nice to me.” Was that satisfaction I heard in her voice?

“Do you see her often?” It made me uncomfortable to ask. A lot of things with Kimber lately have felt awkward.

“Sure. I had lunch with her last week.” There was definite smugness in her tone.

I didn’t like it. I kept my voice nonchalant when I said, “I have to go. We’re watching a movie.”

“Wait. You didn’t tell me what happened with Cole.”

“I just did.”

“Then why is he acting all weird?”

“Weird how?”

“Distracted, quiet— he keeps staring at his phone like he wants it to ring.”

In other words, he wasn’t giving her his undivided attention. And, he was expecting me to call him. “I really need to go,”

“Fine.”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

She hung up without another word.

I sat there staring down at the little white octagon tile that just a week ago I scrubbed and bleached within an inch of its life. It looked lots better. I got up from the toilet seat and opened the door. Sam filled the doorway. Without a word, I leaned into him, sinking into his warmth and strength.

“Do you understand why I want to keep the scroll now?” His words erased some of the comfort I felt in his arms.

I pulled back to look up into his eyes. “The scroll isn’t your responsibility.”

“
You
are and having this thing puts you in repeated danger. I’m taking it from you and hopefully taking some of the danger with it.” As he spoke he crossed his arms across his chest like he was laying down the law.

I didn’t much care for his attitude. “You need to give it back to me.” I refused to show how desperate I felt.

He shook his head and started to turn away. I caught his hand and yanked him back. I kept my voice low to say, “I don’t want you to have it, Sam. You having this puts you in danger. I can’t bear the thought. If anything happened to you…” My voice trailed off as my eyes filled. I didn’t even have to pretend because the thought of him being hurt made me crazy.

His fingers tightened around mine. “I understand. I do, but I can’t stand watching demons come after you.”

“I can hold on to it for both of you,” Logan said from behind us.

Sam spun to face Logan and I looked around him to see Logan staring at the scroll.

“No!” I blurted. Sam looked at me and raised an eyebrow. I flushed and looked away. I didn’t want Sam to figure out that one of the reasons that he just couldn’t keep the scroll was because the thought of Logan around it made my skin crawl. “It would be dangerous,” I said, still not meeting Sam’s gaze.

“I agree,” Sam said. My head snapped up in time to catch Logan frown.

“You mean you don’t trust me with it?”

“It’s not that. It’s just that I can’t worry about you
and
Heven all day long.”

Logan bristled, his thin chest puffing out. “I am a hellhound too, remember? You keep telling me to act like one—to accept it. Maybe holding onto that would give me a reason to be closer to that side of me.” Sam nodded which thrilled Logan, so he said, “Plus, no one would expect me to have it, so it would be safe.”

“You make a good case, bud,” Sam said, thoughtfully.

He couldn’t give the scroll to Logan. I wasn’t sure why it bothered me so much, but I really didn’t want to find out. “That’s really sweet of you, Logan, but I would hate myself if something happened to you because of this.”