Fighting Heaven for Love (11 page)

“Are you stronger than vampires? We have a nasty one hunting Kaitlyn. She’s my best friend and Aiden’s mate.”

“We can evade them, and burn them. But we aren’t as physically strong as vampires or shifters, so we aren’t able to kill them.”

“We’ll take any help we can get, Brody,” Prescott said. “If you set one on fire, I’d wager it would slow him down enough for one of us to catch him. Then we can take his head.” Prescott had placed his hands over Lexie’s ears, but Lexie’s exclamation of disgust showed she’d heard him anyway. “Sorry, Lexie,” Prescott added.

Lachlan parked right outside Pine Falls’s only department store. It wasn’t a large town, but the store had everything Lexie and Meg would need. Caleb couldn’t guess when they’d be able to move their belongings up here and he wouldn’t even consider it until Nicholas was dead.

“I need to check in at the station,” Lachlan said. “I’ll arrange for more leave for Prescott and tell them I’ll be back at work tomorrow.”

Caleb smiled as Lachlan gave Meg a kiss worthy of a farewell that would last months, not minutes. They all loved Meg, and Caleb would have to talk to his brothers about proposing to her. He wanted to see their ring on her finger, a mark that the human population could recognize as meaning she belonged to them.

“Why are you growling?” Meg said. She took his hand tentatively, her eyes wide, her scent bitter with fear. “Are you going to get jealous if I kiss one of your brothers?”

He dropped her hand and wrapped her in his arms. He tilted his hips to make sure she didn’t miss how hard his cock was as it pushed against her stomach. “Does that feel like I’m jealous, baby?” She shook her head, but her scent remained bitter.

“I was thinking about you being ours forever. I know there are times we will all be together, and times when we need to have you all to ourselves. There was no jealousy, Meg.” She nodded and her smile was genuine. Cats were incapable of lying to their mates, and he hadn’t. He just hadn’t wanted to propose to her in the main street of town, so he just avoided the word marriage.

“Thank you, Caleb.” She pulled his head down and kissed him chastely on the cheek. The contact still made his cock twitch and she rubbed against him in reply.

“Saucy wench. Go and plunder this store for everything you need. Prescott and I are going to guard the entrances.” He kissed her, doing some plundering of his own with his tongue.

“Make sure you get whatever toys you need, Lexie,” Prescott said. He picked up the small child and kissed her on the cheek. “I’d like another picture if you feel like coloring one for me.”

“I do,” Lexie said. She kissed his cheek and hugged him before squirming to get down.

“It’s a long way down, pumpkin,” Meg said. She took her from Prescott and put her on the ground. Prescott held Meg to him and kissed her until Lexie pulled her away by the hand.

“Shopping, Meg. They kiss too much,” Lexie said. She took Brody’s hand and pulled him into the store as well.

“How the hell did we get so lucky?” Prescott said. “I’ll guard the back.”

Caleb positioned himself inside the front door to watch Meg and Lexie as they shopped.
I’ll feel a lot luckier when Nicholas Thomson ceases to exist.

* * * *

Meg and Lexie didn’t take long to find everything they needed, and then they got to work on what Brody needed.

“I can’t buy anything.” Brody looked down at his tattered sneakers. “I don’t have any money. There, I said it.”

“Don’t the wolves give you a wage for doing all their cooking and cleaning?” Meg saw the look of confusion on his face and ground her teeth together. “Just a roof over your head. Nothing else.”

“Your clothes are all baggy,” Lexie said. She poked her finger through a hole in the knee of Brody’s jeans.

Meg suspected everything he was wearing was old clothes that the wolves had thrown away. Brody was never going back there. She’d make sure he loved it here in Pine Falls and decided to stay with them forever.

“You’re working here to protect me. That’s your job now and I’ll talk to Caleb about what he’s going to be paying you. Then you can pay him back for the things he’s buying you today.”

“I own a security firm,” Caleb said. Meg jumped at his sudden appearance by her side. “We pay two hundred dollars a day to bodyguards. Plus expenses. Here’s an advance on this week’s wages.”

He disappeared again and Meg looked over her shoulder to see him back by the front door. His sexy smile made her heart rate increase. When she turned back to Brody, he was gaping at the wad of notes in his hand.

“I’ve never even seen this much money before. This is too much.” He tried to put the cash in Meg’s hands but she moved them behind her back.

“It’s a fair wage, Brody. It’s your money though, if you don’t want to get yourself some clothes and personal items, it’s your choice not to.”

“These are pretty,” Lexie said. She was holding up a pair of black socks with bright colored spots.

“I’m getting some for my mates, Lexie. They are pretty.” She turned back to ask Brody his opinion when she felt the air around her start to tingle and burn her skin.

“Lexie?” Meg had time to reach for her sister before Brody wrapped them both in his arms, taking them into the deep cold of complete darkness. Lexie’s scream of terror was the only sound she could hear.

Prescott saw the dark-haired man approach him and his cat put him on alert immediately. The man was wearing a suit and tie, not the normal attire for Pine Falls. Prescott let his claws slide free, arming himself instinctually.

When the man was six feet from him and Prescott still detected no scent, he moved at preternatural speed to intercept the creature he was now sure was Nicholas. In the next breath, Prescott found he was on the edge of a cliff, only the toes of his boots on the rocky scree at the edge. He waved his arms trying to balance and slipped straight off the cliff. He grabbed wildly for the edge managing to catch it with his clawed fingertips.

“You smell of her. Her scent’s all over you.”

The voice dripped with menace and a hint of madness. Prescott looked up into the sun and saw the man from the alley leaning over the ledge. “Nicholas Thomson.”

“I might have let you lived if you hadn’t touched her. But I warned her. She should have listened to me.” He stomped down on Prescott’s hands with his shiny black shoe.

* * * *

Caleb heard Lexie scream and ran toward her as Brody wrapped both Lexie and Meg in his arms and vanished. Caleb skidded to a stop and collided with Brody as he reappeared in the exact spot he’d vanished from.

“You have to go back,” Caleb said, his fear and anger making his command all the more compelling. They’d previously discussed that Brody would take Meg home if Brody sensed danger, which meant she was currently unprotected, as they were all in town.

“I came to get you. There’s a Nephilim near.”

“I have to stay here, Brody.” The demon didn’t say another word, he simply disappeared, and the air around him stung Caleb’s exposed skin with the electrical charge of the demon’s power.

Not wanting to waste time, he pulled out his cell phone and called Landon as he ran to the back of the store. “Landon, Meg is at home alone, how long until you can get to her?”

He exited the store and found the back alley empty. His cat roared in rage and fear. “Prescott has been taken. Organize someone to get to Meg.” He didn’t wait to hear what Landon planned. He trusted the bear to send the best, and nearest, help he could find to Meg.

He ran from the alley and headed for the sheriff’s station. He needed Lachlan. He didn’t know what he’d do if Prescott had been killed. They’d all faced the real possibility of Meg dying when she’d been injured, but this was something new. He’d have to endure centuries of pain if his brother died. Centuries of feeling Meg’s pain if she lost one of her mates.

“I won’t let him have you, Prescott. It won’t happen.”

* * * *

Lachlan was just leaving the sheriff’s station when he saw Caleb approach. His brother was running at full speed, invisible to any humans, something he would never risk in town unless something was terribly wrong. His cat roared to life, its need to defend and fight almost overwhelming Lachlan.

Forcing his cat to the back of his mind, he fought the need to shift and walked to his truck and opened the passenger door for Caleb before walking around the truck to get behind the wheel.

“Brody did his demon shit and took Meg and Lexie home,” Caleb said, closing the passenger door and pointing to the ignition. Lachlan started the truck and pulled out into the light traffic on the main street. “Nicholas was there and he’s taken Prescott.”

“Fuck, where do we even start looking for him?” Lachlan’s usual ability to reason calmly had deserted him. “Should we go home to Meg?” His emotions were in turmoil.

“Brody is with her, he can take her away if Nick finds her at our home. I’ve sent Landon there for reinforcement. We need to get out of here and shift.”

Lachlan could see why Caleb was Alpha, despite his innate desire to go to his mate, he was still able to function. Lachlan was barely hanging on. His every instinct was telling him to protect their mate.

“Prescott will kill us if something happens to Meg while we’re off looking for him.”

“The best protection for her is having Brody by her side. That’s all we can offer until Aiden brings us a weapon we can use to kill the Nephilim,” Caleb said, his expression grim. “Do you want to abandon our brother is we might be able to help him?”

He took his eyes off the road for a second and glanced at Caleb. He scented of both rage and fear. He’d never scented fear from his brother before. It made his blood freeze in his veins.

“You think he’s already killed Prescott?” Caleb’s expression was pained as he nodded.

Lachlan pulled the truck over at the rest stop marking the Pine Falls city limits. The forest surrounded the small parking area, the ponderosa and white bark pines pressing into the area as though they would soon swallow it up. The five minute drive had seemed like an eternity and both of them threw open the doors and shifted as soon as the truck stopped.

As anxious as Lachlan was to find Prescott, he feared that if they found Prescott they may also find the Nephilim, and they may not be able to defeat him. Their deaths would condemn sweet Meg to death only a few hours after their mating. His rage at the injustice of it all made his shift even more rapid and painful. A pain he wished to re-gift on the Nephilim who threatened them all with his selfish avarice for life at whatever cost.

* * * *

Brody stood close by Meg’s side as she held Lexie in her arms and soothed the crying child. He hadn’t meant to scare Lexie. He just needed to get them away from the Nephilim. He’d promised his friend Aiden that he’d do everything he could and he always kept his promises, but now he’d met Meg and it had become personal.

She was a beautiful person with the most shiningly radiant soul he’d seen in decades. A soul so special that he knew the Nephilim would never let her go. A Nephilim choosing to walk the dark path to immortality would see her soul as a means to centuries of life, not the wonder that it was.

A Nephilim’s life was meant to last a human lifetime and only the sacrifice of their humanity could extend it. The powers gained with this sacrifice further corrupted their own souls as they stole the purest ones they encountered. It robbed the world of the gift those people were meant to bestow by their very existence.

“It’s all right, pumpkin,” Meg said, trying to soothe Lexie’s tears. “Brody is back with us. He’ll take us somewhere safe if Nick comes here.” She looked at Brody and he nodded in reassurance.

“Caleb is going to send people here to help, too, Lexie,” Brody said, the tremor in his voice betraying his own fears to Meg. She smiled and reached for his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

“I can hear a truck approaching. Will you please tell me what’s going on? Why didn’t Caleb come back with you?” Meg said. They were back in the bathroom between Caleb and Prescott’s bedrooms. It had been the first place Brody thought of that would be safe when he’d used his power to take them from the store in town.

“Stay here, I’ll go outside and see who it is?”

“Brody…” He didn’t hear what else Meg was saying as he was peering around the side of the barn an instant later. Two trucks had pulled up in front of the Alpha’s house. Two mean-looking wolves got out of one truck, and one angry giant squeezed himself out the other.

“Oh, dear,” Brody said, stepping back into the bathroom. “Three shifters just came. Two were wolves and one scent I couldn’t recognize. I hope they’ve come to help us because they’re the scariest-looking people I’ve ever seen.”

Meg smiled and squeezed his hand again. “Is one really, really tall, built like a barn with brown hair?”

“Yes, the others are nearly as big but have blond hair and huge frowns.”

“Come on, we’ll go downstairs before Landon tears the house apart looking for us.”

As they left the shelter of the bathroom, Brody smelled the unusual shifter’s scent stronger than before. “One of them is in the house already. Stay close in case he’s not this Landon fellow you’re expecting.”