Discern (40 page)

“Could I offer you or him some water?” I asked politely.

“Thank you,” she said meekly, extending her hand.

I handed her the bottles. “Do you need any help with the forms?” I asked, noticing all the lines were blank.

“That would be a blessing. I never learned to read,” she said embarrassed.

“No problem, I can help you,” I smiled gently.

I sat down in the chair next to the couch. She handed me the clipboard. I scanned over the documents and began asking her each question carefully. Her hand lightly touched mine. “Thank you so much.”

“It’s my pleasure,” I said, watching as she patted the top of her young son’s head.

Tears rolled down her cheeks. The little boy wrapped his arms around her neck and she cradled his body. My heart ached as I watched the interaction between the two. It was not aching because I missed my mother, but at the possibility of mankind being destroyed. Humans, such as these two beautiful people, did not deserve such an ill fate.

Just as I was filing out the last line, I heard the chime of the front door. A tall, brown haired man stood angrily glaring in our direction. His fists were balled and he began shouting incoherently. I glanced back down at the woman, who was now holding her son. Her expression and body language easily conveyed that the man was here to try to take her and the child away.

I instantly stood up, placing my body between him and her. “You need to leave or we’ll have to call the cops,” I warned.

“Go ahead,” he challenged.

“Ryan!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.

My eyes darted back and forth from the metal door leading to the back and to the man’s face. I eagerly waited for the door to come bursting open.

“No one’s coming,” he sneered. “So move out of the way, before I make you,” he threatened, as he took a step closer toward us.

The chime on the front door began rapidly ringing. I couldn’t see who had just entered, but I hoped it wasn’t back up for him.

“Not a good idea.” Andrew’s voice snarled.

“Oh, thank goodness!” I gasped.

Andrew appeared beside the man, but he was not alone. Alec stood on the other side, but another man, with reddish-blond hair and sparkling orange eyes, stepped forward beside Alec. Their eyes quickly darkened to a crimson red as they surrounded the man.

“No!” I shouted. “Not here.”

Andrew glanced behind me, and his face softened as he realized the presence of a woman and a small child. His eyes faded back to green as he gestured for Alec and the unknown man to hold back.

“We’ll have a word with the gentleman outside,” Alec grinned devilishly.

“I’m not going anywhere without my wife and child,” the man growled. “Carrie, you’re coming with me.”

She had a petrified look on her face. “Don’t worry,” I said, taking a seat beside her. “These men work for us and will take care of him,” I lied, trying to cover for them and comfort her.

“Okay.” Her lips trembled. “He’ll never leave us alone.” Tears began falling again.

Andrew stepped closer to us with a pained expression, his eyes now black. “He won’t ever bother you again.”

Our eyes met, and a gentle smile spread across his face. Alec grabbed the tall, brawny man and effortlessly dragged him out the door. The man with the reddish-blond hair, assumed to be one of their brothers, followed, but before he left, he eyed me over.

A silver flash caught the corner of my eye. Ryan appeared from behind the door. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing now,” I reassured.

“What’s he doing here?” he asked agitated.

“Ryan, stop,” I insisted. “We have someone ready to be shown around the place,” I said stiffly, gesturing toward the mother and her son.

Ryan immediately looked down, composing himself. “Of course.”

I handed him the paperwork and whispered a few things in his ear. He smiled and began conversing with the young child.

“Haley has to leave,” Andrew said, interrupting his conversation.

Ryan shot him a nasty look. “Why’s that?”

I looked up at Andrew, not understanding his request. “What’s going on?”

“It would be best if you left.” His eyes never left Ryan as he spoke.

“Are you going to leave with him?” Ryan asked, glaring down at me.

“I think it would be wise.” My voice shook.

“Fine, but at least call me tonight, so I know you’re safe,” he insisted.

“I will,” I promised, wondering if I would get a chance to make that call.

Ryan and the other two made their way behind the door.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“My brother Holden is here, and I need to see if your defenses work against him,” he stated stiffly.

“Can’t it wait?”

“He doesn’t have much time here before the others will take notice of all three of us in one town.”

“Oh,” I said softly, as I grabbed my purse.

Ryan’s mother stepped out from behind the door. “I heard you had to leave.” She sounded sincerely disappointed.

“Yes, I’m sorry. It’s kind of an emergency,” I frowned.

“Okay, sweetie, thanks for coming in today,” she smiled.

“No problem,” I grinned. “Oh yeah, I almost forgot,” I said, turning back around.

“Yes?”

“My father wants to make a donation and wanted me to find out what would be helpful.”

“Really?” Her voice was slightly shocked.

“Yes,” I smiled, embarrassed of my stingy father.

“Anything would help,” she assured. “You can decide for us.”

“I don’t think that would be wise. I’d write you a check for every last penny we had.”

She smiled. “Just talk it over with him, and whatever you two decide will be greatly appreciated.”

“I will.”

Andrew lightly placed his hand against the small of my back. Ryan’s mother instantly took notice of how close we stood beside one another. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. He placed it on top of the counter. “I meant to give this to you the other day.”

Ryan’s mother unfolded the piece of paper. Her eyes lit up, and a large grin stretched across her face. “Are you sure about this, Mr. Alexander?”

“Yes,” he smiled, as he lightly nudged me toward the front door. “Have a wonderful day,” he said as we exited the building.

“Bye, Ms. Scott.” My voice trailed off as the door shut behind me. “What just happened?”

“I wrote them a check.” His voice was casual. “Anything you’re passionate about; so am I.”

“Really?”

“Of course,” he winked. “Plus money isn’t really an issue for me.”

“It must have been quite a bit by the way she reacted,” I gathered.

“It was enough to take care of them for a few years.”

“Do they have that much time?” I asked grimly, remembering back to their gruesome plan.

“I’ll make sure of it,” he said determined.

“I hope so,” I frowned, sliding into his car.

There was no need to ask about what had happened to the man that Alec and Holden had taken out of the shelter. His soul was more than likely trapped inside one of them, where he could no longer hurt his wife or child. This final judgment for him was hopefully not the same for the rest of mankind.

20

Bulletproof

We reached Andrew’s house within minutes. I nervously walked through the door, wondering if my defenses would keep me safe from his brother, Holden. As I approached the top of the stairs, I quickly caught sight of two, unbelievably attractive and powerful men casually sitting at the table, waiting for us.

“So this is
Alexandria
reincarnated?” Holden asked doubtingly.

“Yes, it is, but she has a name, and it’s Haley.” Andrew appeared displeased with his brother. “Haley, this is Holden,” he introduced.

I smiled uneasily. “Hello.”

“What is she? I can’t sense anything about her,” Holden asked, irritation heavy in his voice.

“Perfect,” Andrew smiled widely. “Now be polite and shake her hand.”

Holden arrogantly stepped in my direction. I anxiously lifted my hand to meet his. My stomach felt sick. Our eyes met as soon as our hands touched. Holden began screaming as I watched the fire blaze between us both, but again, I could not feel anything, and he, too, was immobilized. Andrew pulled his hand from mine. Alec ushered Holden over to the sink where he doused his arm in cold water.

“It only gets better,” Andrew breathed excitedly.

“You couldn’t have warned me?!” Holden shouted.

“No. I had to make sure the touch was pure,” Andrew explained.

Holden held his charred arm as he glared in Andrew’s direction. “Is this a trick?”

“No, it happened to me as well,” Alec spoke.

“So you knew this would happen, too?” Holden asked angrily.

“Of course, how would we have known this was possible if she hadn’t burned me, too?”

“Has she met any of the others, besides us?”

“Just us three, but Abrielle did stop by and was unable to detect her presence,” Andrew answered.

“Ol’ Abrielle, always butting her nose in where it doesn’t belong, especially in your affairs,” Holden smirked, glancing over at Andrew.

“It’s very reassuring because she can always detect competition,” Alec smirked.

“Yes, she would’ve devoured your soul in a second if she ever thought Andrew fancied yet another mortal over her,” Holden laughed loudly.

I shot Andrew a nasty glance. I had overheard her attempt to seduce him while I hid in the closet, but I figured it was nothing of importance.

“I haven’t fancied Abrielle in thousands of years,” Andrew snapped. “Her persistence does nothing but irritate me.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” Alec reassured as he extended his hand, but quickly pulled it back, remembering we could not touch.

“As long as she can’t touch me, I guess I’m fine,” I muttered.

“You’re fine. She’ll never harm you,” Andrew affirmed.

“She may not be able to touch me, but she could possibly use a gun or a knife to kill me.”

All three of their faces dropped. “You don’t think that’s possible?” Andrew asked, slightly frightened.

“I never gave it any thought.” Alec’s brow arched.

“You couldn’t use your powers to move objects toward her, right?” Andrew asked a little panicked.

“No. I tried mentally, but not physically,” Alec replied.

“We need to try then,” Andrew suggested.

“Wait! I don’t feel like dying today,” I said, upset by his suggestion.

“We’ll start off by trying to throw something at her,” Andrew said, ignoring my disapproval.

“What do you suggest?” Holden asked with a large grin upon his face.

“Not you—only Alec,” Andrew hissed.

I had a feeling Holden found joy in causing others pain. Andrew disappeared into the kitchen area. I heard a cabinet door slam, and Andrew returned holding a plastic bowl in his hand.

“Throw this,” Andrew said, handing it to Alec.

“Aim low.” I cringed.

Alec shifted his body. “I will.”

I squinted, only keeping one eye slightly open. Alec released the bowl. I watched as it moved in slow motion. I opened my other eye and watched the bowl fall on the floor a few inches from my body.

“You didn’t throw hard enough,” Holden accused.

“No. I threw it very hard,” Alec muttered confused, dropping his head.

“It didn’t look that way to me,” I mentioned nervously.

Alec lifted his head. “What did it look like?”

“It was moving in slow motion. I could’ve easily reached out and touched it,” I explained.

Out of the corner of my eye I noticed something coming my way. I turned to see a knife moving in slow motion. I automatically tried to duck out of the way, but before I could move, the knife stopped in midair and fell to the floor. Again, only a few inches from my body, as if I had some invisible force field surrounding me.

“What the hell are you doing?” Andrew snarled, slamming Holden against the wall.

“I was testing out her abilities,” Holden snarled back.

“I didn’t authorize it,” Andrew growled.

“If she knows something’s coming then she might be able to protect herself. I wondered what would happen if she was unprepared,” Holden explained as he pushed back against Andrew.

“You follow my direction,” Andrew snapped. “No one makes any decisions concerning her,” he said, releasing Holden.

“I’m doing you a favor by being here,” Holden sneered.

“Not if you hurt her.” Andrew glared back at him.

“Enough!” Alec intervened by placing his body in between the two large growling creatures.

“Try a gun,” I said, feeling a little more confident in my abilities. I had to know what I might be up against.