It looked to be sparsely decorated. The floors were wooden and appeared to have seen better days. There was a queen size bed in the corner with sheets folded on top of the comforter. A television that might or might not work sat across from it. There was also an unplugged refrigerator and a door that she assumed led to the bathroom.
She set Marina's bag down gently before throwing off her coat. The act of undressing set the shivers upon her and by the time she'd gotten out of her wet clothes her skin burned from the change in temperatures.
"Okay, Eden. You're okay."
Maybe if she said it aloud often enough, she'd believe it. She dug through the suitcase, pulling out her sweatpants and a long sleeve shirt.
"Things could be much worse."
She shoved on her sweatpants, her hands shaking the entire time.
"You could have had a vision out there in the snow and ended up face down on the ground. You'd be dead before morning and then where would you be? Well, that's the million dollar question."
She pulled the shirt over her head and tried to force herself to take deep breaths. Whatever else was wrong with the hotel room, the heat pumped well. It felt like heaven in her little hotel room.
Wanting to be closer to the heater, she walked to the window and stood right next to the heating unit like she could make the warmth seep into her bones by vicinity alone. From this distance, the snow actually looked pretty, not like the wicked, cruel devil it actually was.
"I did it. I found shelter. That is the hardest part."
Eden wasn't really certain why she kept speaking aloud, but hearing her own voice sounding normal, sounding like she wasn't about to fall into a pit of self-made despair filled with stupidity, made her believe she might actually be okay.
A movement caught her eye and she leaned closer against the window. What was that out there? A person?
Standing on the beach looking decidedly like he stared right at her—even though she knew she had to be paranoid in thinking that was what he did—was a man dressed in full winter regalia. Unlike Eden, he had come prepared for the cold. His jacket was black, standing out against the white world the snowflakes created on the beach. She couldn't even see the ocean through the thick blanket but she could hear it as it roared its fury onto the sand.
Whoever stood there must certainly be brave to take on the elements on a day like the one they were having. Why was he just standing there staring at her room?
She gasped and took a step back. Could he be a minion of the demon? Could he be Sebastian himself? In her haste, she tripped over the bag she'd set on the floor and hit the ground hard. For a moment, she couldn't move as her leg started to throb. She'd really banged it. A pool of blood formed at a gash she'd made and she had to look away. She'd never been very good at handling blood.
After crawling for a moment, she grabbed the side of the bed. Although she struggled, she managed to pull herself to her feet and limped to the window to see if the man who had stared at her room still remained. Only the swirling snow greeted her eyes and she let out a sigh that quickly turned into a half-sob.
She'd rushed from the window like some poor stranger wanted to harm her. In the process she'd managed to injure herself. Looking around the room, she decided the bathroom towel would have to do to stop the bleeding on her leg because she didn't have any bandages and she doubted the guy at the desk would give her any if she asked.
Could she be any more pathetic? She sat down to place the towel on her bloodied leg when her hands started to tingle. Oh no. This was not the time for a vision.
The world whirled in front of her face and she climbed up onto the bed in preparation for passing out. If she didn't have to bang herself up any further that evening, it would be a really good thing.
Seconds later even as she fought her damndest to stop the occurrence, the world went black around her.
Chapter Five
Samuel stomped through the snow, his heart rate increasing rapidly with every step he took. Eden was in trouble. She'd looked just fine, as he'd watched her from his spot on the beach. For a second, it had seemed like, even from a distance, their eyes had met and it had been the best moment of his life. But something had gone askew. He could feel it. Her distress was like a metal taste in his mouth and every particle in his being insisted he find out what went wrong and fix it.
He moved as quickly as he could toward her motel room door but the snow made even the small bit of travel difficult and it took some time. He could kill the other Outsiders. What had they been thinking letting her go? Someone should have chained her to her bed before allowing this. Eden's safety had always been paramount in his mind, and if he ever got the chance, he would pound the others for obviously not feeling the same.
Finally, he got to the door. His snow pants were covered midway up his calves in white powder. He'd pulled off his gloves and banged on the door when it occurred to him that he had no idea how he was going to explain to her who he was. What would be his excuse for showing up at her motel door? Although he knew her well, she had no idea who he was other than a voice in her head that occasionally made her feel insane.
Eden didn't answer. He waited a beat. Was she just not answering because she was scared of a stranger banging on her door? His gut clenched and he debated sending his consciousness to her just to see what was going on. But that would leave him standing outside of her door with his mind elsewhere. If she were to open the door, it could be a disaster.
He gritted his teeth and knocked one more time. "Hello? I'm friendly. I'm just lost in the snow."
Maybe that would work. Eden was openhearted and her upbringing had led her to believe that she'd basically been born to serve others. If he claimed to need help, there's no way she wouldn't—foolishly—open the door to him. Samuel meant her no harm but others could take advantage of her good nature.
Which is why she shouldn't be alone without any protection.
Still nothing. Something was wrong. All of the years of stealing faces and moving locations had taught him certain skills he wasn't proud to possess. However, not feeling 'proud' didn't mean he felt guilty. He didn't. Times like this one warranted a little know-how that wasn't necessarily legal.
Reaching into his ski-jacket pocket, he pulled out the screwdriver he always carried with him. There were certain things that he brought with him always. The screwdriver, dental floss, and a tootsie roll lollipop were among the group. After a second of jimmying with the door, he got the lock open. It was a good thing it was one of the old fashioned locks that required a regular key to get in. The newer hotels with the sliding cards were more complicated to open.
He pushed open the door, half expecting Eden to whack him in the face, screaming at the top of her lungs that a lunatic had broken into her hotel room. Silence met his entrance and Samuel poked his head inside to see what had occurred. Eden laid spread out on the bed, a large gash in her leg bleeding onto the exposed mattress.
Even as he moved, he sent his consciousness out toward hers. She was having a vision. He struggled against his powers, which wanted to meld with hers and join her in the prophecy. There was no stench of the demon in her mind, which meant they had more pressing concerns—like her bleeding leg and her current living situation.
Samuel's face started to itch and he pushed away the sensation. His appearance was going to have to last a little while longer despite his close vicinity to Eden. He looked around the room. This place was a dump. It might suffice during the summer when people just wanted a place to crash after spending all day at the beach but for winter lodging? No way was Eden going to remain in it, not during a winter storm.
The trick was going to be getting her out. He couldn't wait until she awoke so he could ask her to go with him. She'd be nuts to go running off with a stranger and he doubted she'd let him get very far in his explanation to even get the chance to ask. That left him few options except to do something he would really prefer not to do.
Sighing, he knew he had no choi
ce. Hell, he'd already broken into her hotel room. What were a few more laws? He stared down on the floor at the pathetic winter coat she'd ventured out into the cold wearing. His Eden hadn't prepared well for her sudden venture off the island.
Samuel's face felt like it was on fire—a sensation he'd actually lived through once and he didn't particularly care for having to endure it again. Using only his sheer force of will to control the panic that threatened to overtake him, he made himself stay in the present. He couldn't help Eden or himself if he freaked out.
He tugged off his own coat and wrapped Eden up in it. The car he'd 'borrowed' and intended to put back—just where he'd found it—wasn't far away. It wasn't like he could purchase his own vehicles. He didn't even have a driver's license although he knew how to operate just about every type of car, motorcycle, or boat he encountered. How could he go to the DMV and have a picture taken when his face altered all the time? If he got pulled over, the cops would assume he'd stolen the car.
Fortunately for Eden, he didn't mind bending the law when it was absolutely necessary. This was one of those moments.
"Okay, pretty girl. We're getting out of here. Just after I wrap up your leg and then I'll fix it when we get back to my place."
He darted into the bathroom and used one of the towels to make a temporary bandage that would have to do until he could take care of it more properly.
After he put Eden in the car, he'd come back for her bag. The thought did occur to him that maybe he should find a way to bring her back to her island but then he was afraid she'd simply leave again. Plus, he wasn't certain the other Outsiders even deserved her anymore since they'd done such a lousy job of caring for her needs.
He placed her gently in the front seat. She was really out of it, which meant whichever vision she currently had to live must be a doozy. His heart wept at Eden's constant struggle with her power. What must it be like to constantly be dragged into a world that was a vision of a possible future?
Before he had to leave her again, he'd find a way to make it better. There had to be a way. One more quick run into the hotel room to grab her bag and he was back in the car. As he placed her bag in the backseat of the car, he felt it. Like an alarm system that his psyche had created on the day he'd nearly burned to death, he knew the demon was close. Goosebumps appeared on her arms and a rage that made him want to murder growled in his stomach.
He looked around, right and left, to see if he could actually sight the demon. Nothing visible at the moment but that didn't mean anything. Sebastian was close. Samuel didn't need to see him to know he was there. Maybe this was the time to finally get the demon.
Samuel whirled around to look around again. He had to get Eden to safety, and if the demon wanted to track him there, then he'd show him how he had prepared for him. He was never going to get caught unaware by the thing. No one would ever again get the chance to lock him in the closet and burn him like a victim.
If he had to kidnap the soul mate he could never have to keep her safe, then that is what he would do. One way or another, Eden would get well and the demon would pay for what he had done. Samuel knew that to be true like he knew that the sun would come out every morning and that sometimes life just sucked no matter what you tried to do about it.
It took him a few extra minutes to get back to his apartment. The snow made driving nearly impossible but the car he'd temporarily acquired had four-wheel drive and they managed to eventually get there. He pulled the car in his driveway. The first thing he would have to do after he settled Eden in was to return the car. Maybe the owner would never know that it had been temporarily swiped. Samuel could only hope. Luck didn't tend to run on his side.
If any of his neighbors were staring from their windows, he didn't want to know about it. Usually, he was so careful not to be stared at that he went to great lengths to make sure he never drew attention to himself. There was no time for that at the moment. Eden needed to be put inside and the car had to go back.
Scooping the still unconscious Eden up in his arms made his stomach twist. She smelled like strawberries. He wanted to lick her from her chin down to her feet. His cock jumped to attention even as he fiddled with his house keys to bring her inside. The temperature outside felt freezing but Eden had lit a flame inside of his body that might cause an inferno if he wasn't careful about it.
Not to mention his skin wanted to peel off his face. It took all of his concentration to not scratch the itch desperate to be taken care of. His apartment felt blissfully warm compared to the outside. In two seconds he had crossed the relatively small place and laid Eden down on his bed. Her leg had stopped bleeding but it still looked nasty. The car could wait a few more seconds because he needed to take care of her leg.
As he bounded into the bathroom to look for his first-aid kit, the reality of what he had just done dawned on him. As a rule, he liked to complete tasks and sometimes the doing of the job blocked out any emotions he should deal with during the chore. If he could focus on the actual doing, he didn't have to handle everything else.
But it was impossible to ignore the fact that Eden lay on his bed, in his apartment, and they'd spent the last half-an-hour in the closest vicinity they'd ever been together. It was what he'd always wanted.
Samuel crossed to the medicine cabinet and tried to focus on getting out all the stuff he needed. If he didn't do something about his face, it might peel itself off. Somehow, his magic didn't want to work while Eden was around. Like his internal power monitor that allowed him to steal the features of other peoples—lucky considering what happened to him—rebelled against the idea of Eden seeing him as anything other than what he really looked like.
Well, he snarled at his fake reflection in the mirror, that wasn't going to happen. No way would he let her see what he himself couldn't stand to witness: the horror of his scarred monstrous face.
There was no way he could find a new appearance in the middle of a snowstorm. This one had to last.
"Damn it."
He stomped out of the bathroom, aware that he was acting like a lunatic. There wasn't a thing he could do about any of this. Eden needed to be away from him so he could maintain his cool and keep his skin in place. But he couldn't have left her alone in that hotel room.
Somehow, someway he'd make do, and as soon as the snow stopped, he'd get her back onto that island where he would find a way to make sure she stayed put.
* * * *
After he'd put the car back where he'd stolen it from, checking to see if there was any evidence the owner had noticed a lack of the car and finding none, he hoofed it back to his apartment complex. Even though he knew how to dress properly for the cold, by the time he got home he felt frozen to his core. The cold air had helped his burning skin to relax for a while. Maybe he could get one more day out of his new features.
Maybe.
He'd unlocked the door but hadn't stepped inside more than an inch when the first blow struck him on the side of the head. He saw stars as he hit the ground. What the hell? He could hardly think. Shit. What had hit him?
Using force of will alone, he barely managed to roll to the side before the next whack nearly struck him again. A streak of strawberry-blonde flew by his eyes.
"Eden?"
He heard a gasp. "How do you know who I am?"
Samuel managed to open one eye long enough to see she stood above him holding a chair leg over her head. She looked fierce and stunning like some kind of warrior goddess taking down her prey. Hell, she'd broken his chair.
"I know you. It's hard to explain." Or maybe it wasn't but he couldn't be sure. His head felt heavy and he couldn't make sense of much. Everything looked sort of blurry.
"Your voice." Eden's lovely face came into focus for a moment before it blurred out again. Her eyes furrowed as she tried to make sense of things. He didn't blame her. This whole thing was damn confusing.
"I know your voice."
He tried to nod and had to close his eyes. Wow, she'd really gotten
him. "Yes, you do."
"You're the one who speaks in my mind." She gasped. "You're him."
She dropped to her knees next to him and the scent of her strawberry aroma, which matched the glorious color of her hair, wafted to him. He wished he could roll around in it.
"I hurt you. I don't understand what's going on here. How did I get here with you?"
"In the bathroom, there is a first-aid kit. Bring it, would you?" He would explain when he could figure out how he was going to explain it all.
"Sure."
She ran off and in a second returned with the kit. As she bent over him, he got a really good view of her breasts. They were large, more than a handful, and poked through her shirt so that he could see her nipples. His cock hardened and he couldn't help wondering how it was possible that in one hand he was seriously hurt and in the other his hormones were still in fine and working order.
"Oh wow." Her gaze bore down on him, shining with concern. "I really hurt you. You're bleeding. I think you might need to go to the hospital."
"No, no hospital." He shook his head and it made the pounding he already endured even worse. He'd have to remember not to do that again. "I heal fast. It's part of our genetic makeup."
Eden should know all about that. She'd been living in close quarters with the other Outsiders for months. Hadn't they taught her anything?
"So, you just want me to bandage it up?" She touched it gently with a piece of cloth and he flinched. Wow, he was really not acting as macho as he would have hoped and this was not the way he'd imagined their meeting going. Not that he'd ever really believed it possible for them to ever be in the same room together.
"Maybe dab it with some antibacterial stuff and then bandage it up."
She nodded. "Okay."
He would not act like a baby when she put the antiseptic on his head. He would not…