“And when do I get Logan back?”
A violent shout erupts behind us. The Videns chant with an audacious roar Barricade, Barricade in the same unified voice.
Demetri raises a chalice as he hops onto the Stone of Sacrifice as if it were a coffee table at a party.
“Tonight a new era rises”—his voice booms over the sea of people—“one in which the Videns unify with the Steel Barricade in an effort to remove the Nephilim who have chosen the way of oppression and seclusion over our rightful place as heirs to the world alongside our human brothers and sisters.”
The crowd thunders in approval.
“Well done, little brother.” Wes gives my arm a quick squeeze. “It looks like your people have made their decision.” He takes off to join Demetri.
He never did answer my question.
Logan
The rain lets up just enough to disqualify this storm as a typhoon. Paragon is drowning—sinking into the sea under the pressing weight of water and soon all that will be left of us are the tips of the evergreens. It’s still coming down in sheets, pouring its wrath over the island with intermittent bursts of passion. That’s how I feel about Skyla. My emotions for her are a driving force that have the ability to relent slightly now and again. If my emotions never let up, if my burning for her continued day in and day out at furnace levels, I think my Treble would combust taking the whole world down with it.
Liam is upstairs with either Michelle or Lexy in his bed—both with his dumb luck. Dudley took off for work, and Gage just announced he had to run an errand.
“So finals were a real bitch,” Skyla sighs as we sit at the dining room table. “The truth is I’ve been blowing off History because of all this Gage-related stress.” She plucks apart a piece of toast with her fingers until it’s spread evenly over her plate. I haven’t seen her eat one bite.
Her hair is drawn up in a messy bun, her mascara smudged a finger’s breadth. She’s wearing a pink Host sweatshirt with a wide neck that drops off one shoulder, sexy as hell, and jeans so tight it’s a wonder how she ever squeezed into them. I shift my gaze to the window as the rain blurs out the landscape.
Gage’s wife. Gage’s wife. I have to keep repeating the phrase just to keep my hard-on in check.
I nod toward the door. “You want to fuck?”
“What?” Her forehead wrinkles in horror.
“Oh, shit.” I give a hard blink. “I meant get in the truck. Sorry.” I hold up my hand and try not to stare too hard at those stunning eyes.
Again, whose stupid idea was it to come back before my time? I really need to stop trying to control everything. It only gets me in deeper. It’s like I haven’t learned a thing since high school. Same stupid kid. Same stupid mistakes.
She waves her hand in front of me, and our eyes connect in that special way they always do. Who am I kidding? Coming back to Skyla will never be a mistake. Nothing about us is a mistake.
“What are you thinking?” she whispers.
“That we’re not a mistake.”
Her jaw clenches as she takes a quick breath.
“You think we are?” My heart breaks at the idea.
“No, it’s not that. It’s just that someone said those words to me last night. And with that person, I’m not so sure anymore.” She swallows hard. “So what’s with the truck?”
“Gage.” I take in a deep breath. As much as my balls say find a bed in this overgrown brothel, my head still knows whom she belongs to. “I thought we could see where he’s headed.”
She jumps up and whisks me to the door by the hand. “I bet he hasn’t reached the guard shack yet.”
Skyla and I hop in my truck, and it feels familiar, like old times. The light catches that necklace she wears with my grandmother’s pendant and the mirrored heart I gifted her last year on her birthday. A dull smile rides on my lips at the sight. I still mean something to her. Deep down I know I do, but there’s so much of Gage clouding the picture, it’s hard to tell anymore.
“There he is.” I lift a finger at the light just ahead of us. We’re on the main street downtown, first left outside of the Estates, so I knew the general direction he’d take. “I have no real reason to suspect foul play in daylight hours,” I say, mostly talking out of my ass. “But I figure he’s got my body, I may as well know where his is at.”
“Sounds fair enough to me. I’m just glad he’s not at Demetri’s. The thought of those two bonding makes my stomach turn. It’s bad enough my mother can’t get enough of her favorite Fem although now that Gage is one, he might be tied for the position.”
It’s true. Lizbeth has always preferred Gage to me. “Do you think she knew?” I chew on the inside of my cheek. “You know—your mother—that Gage is Demetri’s son?”
“I’ve questioned it. I mean she seems unnaturally obsessed with both. Although she seemed ripely pissed that Emma actually got to do the deed with the devil. And then there’s—” She holds a finger in the air a moment before closing her mouth and facing the road again.
“No, go ahead. Nothing can surprise me anymore.”
“I’m too ashamed.” She bows her head and her hair hangs like a curtain.
“All right, how about I tell you something I’m ashamed of? You go first.”
“Okay—but don’t repeat this to anyone.”
“Got it.” Gage makes a left, and by the time I get to the intersection the light turns red.
“I’m not so sure that Mystery is Tad’s biological daughter.”
“Really?” I’ll admit she threw me there. “Your mother doesn’t seem the straying type. What makes you suspicious?”
“Misty has these—I don’t know, powers.”
The light changes, and I see him up ahead about two blocks.
“When my mom was trying to get pregnant, it was taking forever. She even went to this clinic and had to take all these shots. I just remember her wanting a baby so bad and it not happening for her. Then, around nine months before Misty was born, she and Tad were having problems. Anyway. My new sister looks an awful lot like Gage, and she’s a little freakier than your average diaper dweller. That’s all it took—suspicions aroused.”
“Now that I think about it, she does look like Gage. Maybe he’s the one to blame.” I give a little wink as Gage himself, pulls into a strip mall parking lot. “Speak of the devil, there he is.”
“Ooh, pull over.” She motions toward the back near the poorly manicured hedges. “He got out of the truck!” She marvels as if it were a feat. “What’s that building he just went into?”
“Paragon Credit Union.”
“We don’t belong to the credit union. Does the bowling alley or Barron have an account there?”
“No. In fact, the bowling alley and the morgue are both at the Bank of Paragon. Barron mentioned once he didn’t like the credit union because of its Countenance ties.”
“There you go. I bet it has unsavory ties to the wealthiest Fem in town as well.” She tucks her thumb to her lip and watches the entrance to the building with intensity. Her sights are set on Gage. There’s a look in her eye that says she’d pin him to the wall with her rage if she could. “I wonder what kind of lie would fly out of his mouth if we confronted him?”
“Maybe he’s applying for a job?” I doubt it but there is a Now Accepting Qualified Applicants sign in the window, plus I feel like a jerk for fostering Skyla’s suspicions. Why couldn’t he just go to the damn gym like a normal person? Does every step he takes have to be shady?
“I don’t think he’s looking for a job, Logan. He has one.” The rain dies down as we wait for Gage to emerge. “I don’t want anything to do with Demetri’s dirty money.”
“Can’t say I blame you. He could provide a nice life for you if you wanted. But it’d be tainted. Dirty is a good word for it.”
“Do you think Gage is tainted?” She whispers, staring catatonic out the window.
“No, Skyla. I don’t. It breaks my heart that he’s jumping through all the wrong hoops,
but I’m certain he has good intentions.”
“Why are you so quick to defend him? Hasn’t it crossed your mind once that he’s changed—that he’s become a dark shadow of his former self?”
My jaw tightens. “I have to believe he’s good.” I take up her hand and chase down her gaze until she’s locked over mine. “The second I stop believing that Gage is anything but good is when I say to hell with this treble and take you back.”
Her mouth opens, the faintest sound comes from her throat, but she doesn’t say a word.
“If I didn’t think you were safe, you’d be back in my arms, Skyla.” I swallow hard. I shouldn’t have driven home the point but it’s the truth and I needed her to hear it, to believe it.
“Thank you for loving me.” She shakes her head, placing our conjoined hands into her lap. “I know this is extremely difficult for you. It is for me.”
Gage emerges and stuffs something into his wallet before heading to his truck. He hops in and stalls.
Skyla’s phone buzzes in her lap, and she picks it up.
“It’s Gage.” She shows me the text.
You up for lunch?
“Looks like someone has a few dollars to rub together.” I start the engine and hightail it out of there.
“What should I say?”
“Say yes. Tell him to meet you at the bowling alley. I’ve got Ezrina and Nev waiting for us. She’s been busy crossbreeding worms, herself, and she’s anxious to fill us in on her progress.”
Skyla glances back as the rain swallows all signs of Gage and his truck.
“You think it’s a good idea to let him in on any of this?”
“I think it’s a great idea for him to know we’re fighting back. But mostly that we would never think to exclude him from the fun.” I grimace into the road. “And, if it backfires, you can always blame me.”
“If the Steel Barricade succeeds, and the Nephilim suffer, it’s not you I’m going to point the finger at—it’s Gage.”
I hate to say it, but she’s right.
The blame most definitely belongs with him.
Skyla and I arrive at the bowling alley seconds before Gage does. There’s a malfunction in the arcade, so I grab my tool bag and head over to make a quick repair just as Ezrina and Nev step inside waving an ominous tool that slightly resembles a steel banjo.
“Whatcha’ got there?” I’m mildly interested. Now that Ezrina and Nev have made a home in the lab, they’ve grown accustomed to decorating it in the most peculiar manner. Let’s just say that Nevermore’s obsession with taxidermy is unnerving on an inhumane level.
“Bed warmer.” Ezrina holds it up to the light.
Nev gently takes it from her. “There’s an antique roadshow in town. I’m afraid we’ve tapped the well for this one. Seventeenth Century artifacts are difficult to come by.”
“C.M.” Ezrina runs her finger over the initials etched over the back. “I bet it was Clara’s.” Her eyes light up with a touch of delight.
“Who’s Clara?”
Her eyes slit to mine. “Someone who tried to steal from me.” She curves her lips to Nev. “But true love never dies.”
Nev wraps his arms around her. “That’s one thing you can never truly steal.”
“Never mind love.” She turns to me with her perpetual frown. “Progress has been made.” Ezrina tries a smile and fails. “I’ve brought samples. We’ll need volunteers.”
“Boy, you just get right down to it.”
I nod over at Ellis and ask him to finish up for me as I escort Ezrina and Nev to a table near the back. Skyla and Gage join us, and I do a double take at the fact they’re holding hands. Of course, they’re holding hands. They share the same bed at night, too. But that last tidbit slices a little closer to the bone. I let out a breath, sinking into the seat. Is that what bringing her to the empty vault was about? Was I secretly hoping she’d leave him for me? For our true love that will never die—and ironically never fully live again? Skyla wants her forever with Gage, and I can’t blame her, except when I can. I grimace at the thought. When did I become a seventh grade girl? I’m a fucking man, and it’s time to man up. Skyla wants Gage alive because she hates death. I lose. The end.
A yelp emits from the lane to our left. Brielle’s sister is here along with Chloe’s brother. They’re within earshot, and suddenly I’m regretting not pulling us into the office.
Skyla follows my gaze. “Oh, him.” She makes a face. “He’s pointless and useless and just about every other negative modifier you can think of. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
“Not only that”—Nev tugs at his collar—“I do believe the Barricade is apprised of more than we think.” He struggles not to glance at Gage. “Wesley is fixated on letting Ezrina know any bit of progress he seems to make.”
“Game.” Ezrina says while busily plucking papers from a ratty looking leather briefcase and laying them all out on the table.
“What’s this?” Skyla runs her fingers over the rows and rows of mathematical equations.
Gage pulls a sheet toward him. “Looks like my statistics homework.”
Ezrina pulls a jar out of her overstuffed bag and plunks it down on the table.
About a dozen black fuzzy caterpillars writhe over one another and peck at the lid.
“Caterpillars.” Nev says triumphantly.
“Dolomite caterpillars?” Skyla asks hopeful as she picks up the jar and rotates it in her hand.
“Better.” Ezrina glares at Gage a moment. “We need a Nephilim volunteer—preferably with strong bloodlines. A Celestra would be best.”
“You?” Gage offers Ezrina up for sacrifice without hesitating. “I mean, you have Chloe’s body, and she was the strongest. Logan is in a Treble.” He looks nervous as hell as if any moment now Ezrina is going to suggest we run down to the lab and pluck my body from its watery grave.
“Yes.” Ezrina looks to Skyla. “As the overseer I suppose your mother wouldn’t approve of your services in this arena. Nevertheless, I, myself, am unable to accurately perform a trial on my own body. Someone else.”
A smile cinches up my lips. I’m always a little amused when Ezrina strings whole sentences together.
“Someone else?” I shake my head. “There aren’t many Celestra that have strong bloodlines. How about Coop?”
“Perhaps. But there is a risk—an identifiable factor that I’m unable to account for.”
“What’s that?” Skyla is already petting her phone with her thumb, ready and willing to summon Cooper at a moment’s notice.
“Weakening of abilities?” Ezrina shrugs. “Severe allergic reaction. Death.”
Skyla lets her phone drop to the table. Coop’s out, and he doesn’t even know it. I’m proud of her. I love the way she cares for her friends.
“I know just the person.” Skyla’s face brightens. “And I guarantee he’ll do anything to impress the woman he loves.”
“Not Coop,” I ask in disbelief.
She shakes her head. “Brody?” she calls, and both he and Brooke head over. “We need a volunteer who’s strong and brave enough to take a trial of Ezrina’s new drug. If it works, the Steel Barricade won’t have a leg to stand on, and all of the Nephilim people will tout him a hero.” She looks at Brooke when she said the word “all.”
Ellis pops up from behind. “You need a fucking hero? I’m in.”
“Not you, Ellis,” Skyla hisses. “It has to be a Celestra. Someone with very strong bloodlines.”
Brody’s chest expands with pride as he grins wildly at his lady.
“It looks like I’m about to become a Nephilim hero.”
Brooke coos and giggles while relaxing over his shoulder. “Color me impressed.”
“Color him as good as laid,” I say under my breath, and Gage gives a little laugh.
My heart warms. Gage and I on the same page is something I miss.
“My office is just across the street.” Ezrina offers Brody her version of a smile. “We’ll adminis
ter the elixir at once.”
“When will we know if his cells are clean?” Skyla fidgets in her seat as if she’s about to jump out of her skin.
“By morning.” Ezrina loses the smile.
“You’ll be a hero by morning!” Brooke jumps up and down over Brody.
He’ll be something by morning.
A couple of hours into the shift I invite Gage to run a bogus errand. He gives Skyla a quick kiss, and the two of us jump in my truck. That simple peck rings out in my mind like a gunshot.
The rain has let up. The island has been washed clean of all its impurities, and it feels like the perfect moment for Gage to come clean, too. It’s been killing me that he’s been keeping things from Skyla and me, keeping us on a need to know basis, taking my body and giving it to Wes to stuff like a Thanksgiving turkey—with fucking worms no less.
I drive us down the long, lonely stretch of Paragon highway and make a turn into the parking lot above Devil’s Peak. We hop out and head to the overlook, pretending that neither of us minds sitting on wet granite.
“So what kind of errand is this?”
“One that involves you and me.”
“I thought so.” He sags as he stares out at the stormy sea. His eyes are the only color in this monochromatic world. “So, what is it?”
“You seem impatient. You got somewhere to go?”
“Not if you like keeping me on the clock while I do some whale watching.”
A few moments thump by with nothing but the sound of the churning waves below.
“I just miss this. I don’t see you much anymore. It feels like an entire lifetime has injected itself between us. I just wanted you to know that you’re still important to me.”
“I’m important to a lot of people.” There’s an arrogance in his tone I’m not familiar with, and I’m guessing neither is he. “Look, is this about Skyla? I know it’s hard for you to be around us.” His voice grows in agitation. “I swear on all that is holy, I do my best to keep my hands off her when you’re around. Is that what you need to hear?”
“What the hell has you so testy?”