Demons Amongst Us (The Book of Demons Saga #2) (7 page)

“Are you ok?” she asked.  T
he concern on her face touched Balthazar.  Even though he was raised as the crown prince, he had never had anyone care for him quite so much. 

“I will be fine,” he said.  He could see that answer wasn’t pleas
ing to her as the scowl formed on her face.

“The smells,” he elaborated, “and the sounds
.  It is hard to concentrate with the assail to my senses.”

“
We’re almost there,” Alex said, hoping to bring some amount of comfort to him.  “Maybe it will be better when we get inside.”

Balthazar didn’t say anything, just nodded.  Alex could see the strain on his face, even though he hid it well. 
Luckily there was not a great deal of people inside the museum, and she could see him visibly relax once the cold, quiet of the inside of the museum washed over them. 

Alex went straight to the information desk, grabbing a pamphlet that laid out the displays of the museum.  Her eyes began to scan for the display they were looking for.  Balthazar was busy memorizing the layout, the entrances and exits, possible areas they could breach the security.  He was rather surprised at the lack of security that he saw.  A couple of aged, overweight guards watched over the small crowds of people that wandered around, looking wide eyed at the exhibits. 

“It’s on the second floor,” Alex said, looking up from the map.

“I thought this was one of the most secure buildings,” Balthazar said, glancing down at her.  His eyes were still hidden behind dark sunglasses, but Alex could
imagine the condescending look he was giving her from behind them. 

“It is,” she said, fighting to roll her eyes.  An elegant black eyebrow arched slightly, telling her that he didn’t believe it was. 

“I know it doesn’t look like it,” Alex said with a sigh.  Balthazar seemed to adapt so easily to her world, it was easy to forget that he didn’t know how things worked here.  “There are hidden security measures.  I’ll explain later, just get a good look at everything.”

“The second floor you said?” Balthazar said, turning from her toward the wide staircase
located on the other side of a wooly mammoth display.  Alex wanted to groan.  She wondered if he knew how annoying he could be sometimes.  She followed after him, and when they arrived on the second floor, it wasn’t hard to find the Hope Diamond exhibit.  Getting close to it, however, was another matter.  People jostled and crowded around the small display case that occupied the middle of a rather small room.  The sight of it nearly took Alexandra’s breath away.  It wasn’t particularly large, like she had thought it would be, only slightly larger than a quarter.  But the color and the sparkle that emanated from it was indeed peculiar, and one of the most beautiful things Alex had ever seen.  It was easy to see that it didn’t really belong in her world.  Things in Balthazar’s world were so beautiful.  She could see this piece fitting easily into his world of gleaming white marble and colorful silk gowns. 

Balthazar noticed the awe that had washed over Alex, and he reveled in her expressions.  It was the same expression he had seen so many times when she was in his kingdom, the same expression that had so intrigued him, and drawn him to her. 

Alex felt the warmth of his hands come to rest on her shoulders, and the comfort of his statuesque figure close behind her.  She leaned slightly back into his embrace, enjoying the warmth that the closeness of his body brought.  He bent his head, his lips coming to rest beside her ear.  The heat of his breath ghosted over the skin of her neck and she could feel the tingle of arousal working its way through her.  Balthazar’s nose instantly caught the spicy smell through the crowd of other smells that permeated the room.  The corners of his lips twisted into a smile, his male pride swelling at his ability to so easily arouse her desires.

“The pendant of the Sultana,” Balthazar whispered, his voice deep and husky, causing her arousal to increase, “it belongs around your neck, my love.”

The words hit Alex like a ton of bricks.  She hadn’t really given his feelings for her much thought, hadn’t really needed to.  She knew he wanted her, could see that he cared for her.  But she never even thought for a second that he actually loved her.  Her heart was doing backflips in her throat as she tried to form words to respond.  She felt hot and cold all over at the same time.  Just as she was about to turn to look up at him and plant a kiss on his sinfully handsome lips, she noticed the woman standing beside her gawking at the two of them.  Then she realized the woman was staring at Balthazar, more particularly the clawed hands that were resting on her shoulder.  As she turned her head to look behind her, she could see the elegant point of his fanged canine poking past the smirk on his lips.

“We should probably go now,” Alex said, grabbing his hand and ushering him as quickly as she could out of the room just as the woman was turning to alert her friend of the peculiar person she had caught a glimpse of. 

“I don’t understand,” Sam said, shaking his h
ead at AnnaBeth.  “Why can’t Alex just zap the Hope Diamond to her.”

“It doesn’t w
ork that way,” AnnaBeth said.  She was wearing her trademark pleasant smile was still on her face, but her rising irritation was evident in her chocolate eyes.

“But you said she was only limited by her will,” Sam said, not noticing
the annoyance behind her eyes.

“Yes,” AnnaBeth said with a sigh, “but matters are complicated.”

“How so?” Sam asked.  He knew he was irritating the woman, but he was bored waiting for Alex and Balthazar to return from their excursion to the museum and there was no good TV in the hotel room they were staying in.  He was ready to return to that world and make those creatures pay for what they had done to him.

“Well,” AnnaBeth said, “since Alexandra is ins
istent on not finishing her bond with Lord Balthazar, she will not have full access to her powers.”

“I still don’t see that
as being a problem,” Sam argued, watching AnnaBeth as she ate a candy bar on the bed in the hotel room.  He had been so intrigued by this woman since she had arrived on his doorstep a couple days before.  In all honesty, he was kind of glad they had some time alone.  He really wanted to get to know her better.  “It doesn’t seem like it would be a difficult thing to pull off.  Would it really require that much power?”

AnnaBeth didn’t really want to answer.  She knew the real reason Alex couldn’t perform such a mediocre task as teleporting such a small object.  It hurt her pride enough just thinking about it, she really didn’t want to
have to say it out loud.  To make things worse, she found herself somewhat flustered around Sam, though she couldn’t quite understand why.  There was a knot in her stomach every time he stared at her with his piercing black eyes, and try as she might, she couldn’t seem to untangle it. 

“No,
” AnnaBeth said with a sigh.  Her eyes were avoiding Sam’s. “It wouldn’t take so much power.  But…it’s just that…”

“What?” Sam asked, as he tried to get her to look at him and give him a straight answer.

“It’s my fault,” AnnaBeth finally blurted out, and Sam could instantly hear the hurt in her voice as it crackled when she spoke.  He saw a tear form in her eye and roll down her cheek.  He felt a pang of guilt at the way he had pushed her for answers. He rose from his chair and joined her on the edge of the bed.  She tried to pull away from him, but he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her into a hug.  He had always been helpless when it came to tears, but he found that AnnaBeth’s tears made him feel especially helpless. 

“Don’t cry,” he said softly.  “How could it possibly be your fault?”

The kindness in his voice had such a calming effect AnnaBeth.  She had never felt this way towards anyone before.  Maybe it was because her whole life had been devoted to finding Alexandra and preparing to train her.  She had never made time for boys.

“It was my only duty in life to find her, and teach her how to use her powers,” she said with a little sniffle that made Sam want to smile at the cuteness of it. 

“It’s not your fault that you couldn’t,” Sam said, trying to soothe her, “and besides, you are here now.  So you can train her.  No harm, no foul.”

“I wish it worked like that, Sam,” she said, finally looking up into his ey
es.  Their faces were so close.  They gazed into each other’s eyes and began to lean in closer to each other, lost in the moment.

When their lips were but a breath away, the hotel room door swung open and Alex and Balthazar came barging in.  They were too caught up in their own argument to notice the Sam and AnnaBeth’s compromising position. 

“I’m telling you,” Alex said with a huff, “it’s not going to be that simple.  You can’t just go busting in through the windows and snatch it.”

“Why not?” Balthazar asked, removing the sunglasses and hoodie.  He was so ready to remove the strange articles from his person, and he had already sworn he would
never wear them again.  Human fashions were terribly peculiar, he decided. 

Alex was about to recruit Sam to her cause when she noticed the peculiar look on his face, as well as AnnaBeth’s.  She looked between the two, who were now as far apart from each other as they could manage without arousing suspicion.  Balthazar’s nose picked up the very faint hint of arousal in the room, and recognizing it was not coming from Alex this time, looked at Sam with a smirking approval but said nothing. 

“Is everything ok in here?” Alex said, with her brows scrunched over her eyes as she continued to shift her gaze between the two.

“Fine,” AnnaBeth said, a little too quickly to be convincing.

“Sam?” Alex said, looking at her friend with skepticism.  She had known Sam for as long as she could remember, and she knew when something was amiss with him.

“Fine,” Sam said, also less than convincing. 

“Ok,” Alex said slowly, not believing them at all. “Well, we should probably talk about how we are going to pull this off.”

“As I have suggested
,” Balthazar said, picking the argument back up where they had left off, “it will be a simple task for me to enter at night, when no one is present, and retrieve the diamond.”

“No,” Alex said through gritted
teeth, “it won’t.  I know you think you are all powerful, but things don’t work like that here.  There is security there that you just can’t see.”

“Alexandra is right,” AnnaBeth broke in, finally finding her composure.  “I’m afraid we cannot risk your presence being known in this world.  It was dangerous enough to allow you
to go out in public today.  I do not think it would be wise to test our luck again.”

“See,” Alex said, giv
ing Balthazar a triumphant smirk, “we will make plans and go in stealthily.”

“Actually,” AnnaBeth said, cutting off Alexandra’s private victory party, “I’m afraid Lord Balthazar will not be going back in.”

“I most certainly shall,” Balthazar said, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I don’t think that is a good idea,” AnnaBeth said, not intimidated by the demon lord’s posture.

“I will not allow Alexandra to go alone,” Balthazar said with finality.

“Very well,” AnnaBeth said with a heavy sigh, throwing her hands into the air.  She did not have the energy to pick a fight with an overprotective demon lord, and she was still more than a little shaken by what had happened with Sam moments before.  She was looking for a reason to get out of the same room as him.  “I believe it is time, then, for your first lessons Alexandra.”

“Tell me about your experiences with your powers, Alexandra,” AnnaBeth said as she walked beside Alex in the small park located beside their hotel. 
A scowl formed on her brow as she contemplated the request. 

“I’
ve only felt them a couple of times,” Alex said, “mostly when I was really angry or scared.”

“Yes,” AnnaBeth said, “there is a built in defense mechanism of sorts.  They will often kick in natur
ally if you are endangered.”

“That
makes sense,” Alex said, “but I also used them to heal Sam, just before you and your sisters showed up.”

“I k
now,” AnnaBeth said with a smile, “that is how we found you.  Do you remember that feeling?”

“Sort of,” Alex said, “I mean, I remember the feeling, but when I try to do it again, I just can’t.”

“What were you doing just before you healed Sam?” AnnaBeth asked.

“
I had just woke up,” Alex said.  “Actually, Sam woke me up.  I was having a bad dream.  He heard me and came in my room.”

“Was it one of your
special dreams?” AnnaBeth asked, knowing full well what the answer was.

“I
t was certainly a strange dream,” Alex said.  “It felt strange, and when I woke up I felt sick.”

“Those are the symptom dreams I spoke of earlier,” AnnaBeth said.  “Do you remember what happened in this dream?”

“Nothing really happened,” Alex said.  “I just remember I couldn’t move.”

AnnaBeth stopped dead in her tracks, a look of pure terror coming over her face for
a split second before she relaxed back into her carefully practiced, typical mask of kindness.