Scala (24 page)
My voice comes out breathy. “All right.” I loosen the blanket, holding it to my chest and leaving my back bare. “How's that?”
“Perfect.” Lincoln goes to work on my shoulders, his nimble fingers alternating between rough pressure and feather-soft brushes. My body warms, my muscles loosen. Exhaling, I lean forward, bracing my arms on my knees. Lincoln slides his fingers up to massage my scalp. Every so often, his nails gently scratch my skin. I like that part, a lot.
Lincoln leans in. “I remember when I first sensed her.”
Without meaning to, I let out a long âmmm' noise. “My lust demon?”
“Oh, yes. I was right here.” His hands press down to my lower back and knead along my hip-line, hard and rough. His warm breath cascades down my neck as he speaks. “And you shivered.”
I tremble once again. “That's right.”
“At that moment, I thought we might have a real spark, other than wanting to kill each other.”
I laugh, the sound low, husky and real. Behind me, Lincoln takes off his shirt.
This is getting good.
Lincoln leans in again. His bare skin brushes against mine. “You tried to get away.” He sets his hands on either side of my waist. “And then, I held you down.” His grip turns hard and tight as he presses my hips against the floor. His voice sounds low in my ear. “Like this.”
My breath catches. Every cell in my body is on alert, waiting for his next touch or word.
“And I knew you liked that even more.” Lincoln's fingertips glide around my upper arms until his touch traces the line of my collarbones. “You did, didn't you?”
I look over my shoulder and meet his gaze. “Yes.” His face radiates raw passion under airtight control. Damn, that gets me. My eyes burn bright red with lust.
Lincoln's mouth winds into a knowing grin. “Why, hello, there.”
“Hi, yourself.”
Lincoln slowly pulls my hair to one side and starts kissing a soft line along my neck. I close my eyes and revel in every sensation.
And just like that, it's official. Having an inner lust demon might actually be pretty awesome, after all.
I don't like going anywhere blindfolded, but then again, Walker insisted. And after everything that guy's done for me, who am I to deny him anything? Right now, Lincoln holds my right hand and Walker holds my left while our little trio marches across a cobblestone yard. Our destination? An excellent view of the prototype building for our new Ghost Towers. After six months of fast construction, the structure is ready for a first look.
As we step along, my heart pounds at double-speed. I approved the plans for the new Tower, of course, but after that, Walker's been super-secretive. He even built covered scaffolding around the construction site, all the better to keep away prying eyes and cameras.
I stop moving. “Can I peek now?”
“No.” Walker chuckles; he knows I have zero patience. “You'll have to wait little longer. I want you to have the perfect view when you first see it.”
We march a little father along. My tail pokes Walker on the shoulder the entire way, a movement that asks âare we there yet?' over and over. Finally, we come to a full stop.
“You ready?” asks Walker.
“So ready.”
I pull the blindfold down from my eyes and gasp. This is probably the most gorgeous building in the history of ever. I look at it again. No, it's definitely the most gorgeous building, period.
The new Ghost Tower is made of clear and super-strong glass, so you can see the lovely clouds floating inside. On the exterior, etched words
appear on its surface. Some stuff scrolls up and down. Other things start off small and grow huge, only to disappear. The text is all statistics about the Tower in question. How many souls there in are, how many we've moved, that kind of thing. âInformation as decoration' is what Walker calls it. Since sorting and processing souls is what Purgatory does, I call it beautiful.
“Wow, Walker. It's gorgeous.”
“Wait until you see it at night. The words will light up at different levels of brightness.” Walker hitches his thumb towards Lincoln. “That was the big guy's idea.”
“It's all a team effort,” says Lincoln. He and Walker exchange a fist-bump in celebration. The two of them have been working together on building the Tower prototype, and having a blast doing it. Plus, it's helped my people get used to seeing Lincoln around Purgatory and being involved in stuff. They now call us The Great Scala and Companion. I think it's a crappy title compared to Princess-In-Waiting, which is what I get in Antrum, but Lincoln says he likes it just fine.
My tail bounces anxiously behind me. “Can I go inside and take a look?”
“Not yet,” says Walker. “There's still a lot left to do.”
“Besides, we're due in Antrum soon,” adds Lincoln. “Our transfer platform leaves within the hour.”
“Oh, that's right. I almost forgot.”
Since our engagement, we've been spending six months in Purgatory followed by six months in Antrum. Wherever we are, I'll always pop back to the Arena for my monthly iconigrations. Tonight, seeing this Tower prototype officially marks the end of our first six-month stint in Purgatory. To celebrate our return to Antrum, Octavia's holding another royal Ball tonight. Lincoln says that after the first dozen or so, they won't bother me so much. I say that as long as we get to sneak out early, I don't mind them at all. We're still taking it slow with my lust demon, and having a damn good time, too.
Lincoln and I say our goodbyes to Walker and walk away from the Tower, hand in hand.
“After the Ball, how about joining me on demon patrol?” asks Lincoln. This is where thrax sneak onto Earth's surface and kill some baddies. It's their whole raison d'etre, and it can be a kick-ass experience, depending on the demon in question.
“Anything good?”
“The House of Kamal reported some trouble in Bali. The weather there's supposed to be really nice.”
Mister Sly. He knows I could care less about the weather.
“You know what I mean.”
“Oh, are the demons any good?”
“Yes, are the demons any good. Bali happens to be home to the very rare and interesting Blue Simia.” This variety of baddie is a monkey-giant hybrid that spits purple poison. I've been dying to fight one for ages.
“You know.” Lincoln taps his chin in, as if the thought were just appearing in his mind. “I think they may have reported seeing a Blue Simia or two.”
I exhale a bliss-filled sigh. “Oh, Lincoln. You say the sweetest things.”
“So, is it a plan?”
“Absolutely. Formal Ball followed by killing Blue Simia. Sold.”
As we finish our walk to the Pulpitum, I come to a very important conclusion.
Life for Lincoln and me may not always be easy, but all in all, it doesn't get any better than this.
The story continues in
Armageddon
. Out October 14, 2014.
For more information and updates about the series, go to:
http://inkmonster.net/books/angelbound-series
Thank I'll start off by saying the obvious. There's some really weird shit in this book. Soul Storage in Purgatory? Cloud Carriers driven by quantum theory? Tin birds, hot thrax Alchemists, platform travel? Okay, the demon made of old car parts is awesome, but yeah, even he's somewhat odd.
Honestly, I'd never have had the balls to write this book without the unwavering support of readers who seem to appreciate the overly-elaborate world-building that goes into my work. Thank you all for your emails, tweets, and reviews.
Wondering how this all goes down? There's a small army of people behind-the-scenes who make my insanity possible. First, there's the honorable Aileen Latcham, who held my hand through five page-one rewrites on this sucker. You are a goddess, Aileen, as well as a kick-ass business
partner. High fives also go out to Lauren Stone, Editrix Extraordinaire. Your insights are always spot-on, Lauren-Elle-Lola. Ana Cruz, Paddy Donnelly, Guillian Helm, Kristi Latcham, Kelly Peterson, Robert Stringerâ¦All of you gave of your time and expertise to make this possible. Thank you.
And now, the best for last. Heartfelt thanks to my husband and son. I love you both with all that I am. Your patience and support make it all possible and worthwhile. Thank you.
P.S. In case you're wondering, it's pronounced KWAH-zees.
Christina Bauer
graduated from Syracuse University's Newhouse School with BA's in English as well as Television, Radio, and Film Production. Her day job is in marketing for companies like Microsoft and Cisco. Back in the go-go 90's, she founded her own software start-up, Mindful Technologies. Christina believes that, upon close examination of Tolkien's text, it's entirely possible that the Balrog was wearing fuzzy bunny slippers.
Coming October 2014 from Ink Monster and Aileen Erin,
Cipher
. The first book in The Shadow Ravens series.
Out now from Ink Monster,
Becoming Alpha
by Aileen Erin.
