"I think I would know if Marina were dead. I just think I would."
He looked around. All exits were blocked. They could try to traverse over the wreckage but that might be dangerous considering he didn't know how sturdy the floor under them actually was. The room they had just left was still open and it had a window. If they needed, they could jump. Not that a four-story fall was so appealing either.
They both stood. Jason put his arm around Charma's waist and led her back to the room. He knew she didn't need his help, but it felt good to do so.
Doing a cursory glance around the room, he nodded hoping Charma had somehow followed his silent decision making that this was the best way to wait for rescue or see what happened.
If you want me to know, you could make it a little easier for me to follow by inviting me into your mind or speaking aloud.
Her telepathic voice jarred him for a moment, and then he smiled. Of course, she'd be monitoring what he thought. That was so… Charma. The fact that he knew that, still, after all of these years was fantastic.
She jumped on the bed and sat down. Charma patted the place beside her where she apparently wanted him to sit. He followed her direction without remark. It was better to be close. For a lot of reasons. He took her hand in his and kissed it. They'd been lucky. Maybe the demon had just been so focused on Drew, they'd been granted a temporary reprieve. But he wasn't going to lose her again. Not to her own mind, not to a demon, and not to physical distance. Wherever she went, he went.
"Stop thinking so hard." She closed her eyes and put her head on his shoulder.
"Don't read my thoughts if you don't like it." Jason had no idea how to stop thinking 'so hard.' Even he knew his mind was not an easy place to hang out in.
"Ah, but I like reading them. I've been deprived the intimacy of it, thanks to someone's disappearing act eighteen years ago."
"Are we back to that?" This was one of those things he heard women did but had never seen before. Harping. That was what it was called. His mother nagged, but she didn't harp, at least not to him. Maybe she pestered his father. He had no idea. Their married relationship had fallen into the realm of 'not interesting' to him. The nurses in his practice would not have dared harping on him. Nor would any of his dates…
"And how many dates were there?"
"Hell, Charma, you're reading my mind like you're looking at a textbook."
"You could visit mine if you wanted to."
"I'm scared about what I might find in there. Massive amounts of 'I hate you, Jason, for disappearing from my subconscious when you were twelve' messages or something."
"Actually when I'm not trying to follow you in the mess you call your inner dialogue, I was thinking about how comfortable I am, considering the situation we are in."
He stroked her hair. "The calm before the storm, is that it?"
"You're not feeling remarkably okay, considering?"
"No, not at all. I'm revved up. Something is coming, I know it." He could feel the tinge of a headache forming too.
A sensation of calm soothed his thoughts. Maybe he could relax. He closed his eyes.
Wait a minute, what the hell was going on?
Opening them, he glared at Charma. "Don't do that."
She looked at him innocently. "Don't do what?"
"Lying now? Don't try to soothe me like I'm one of the endless souls that need your attention. I need you but not for your healing properties. Whatever my 'issues' are, I'm comfortable with them, leave them in my head."
She grumbled something unintelligible, and all of his earlier edginess came flying back.
With more strength than he would have imagined, she kicked him hard in the shin. "Stop being a jackass. You're obviously tense but nothing is going to get fixed by your spending the next hours that we are stuck in here on high adrenaline alert. You're just going to wear yourself out and be of no use if something did show up."
"I still don't want you in there tinkering with my emotions. Save it for someone else who needs it. I'll get myself under control if that's what you'd like."
"I don't want to 'save it.' In my life, there is no one I would rather take care of than you." Her eyes were wide, doe-like. He felt like an imbecile. He rubbed his shin where she had whacked him earlier.
"Fine. Then you can take care of me in a different situation. In this instance, I'm taking care of you."
She narrowed her eyes. "Come again?"
"I nearly lost you today. You were going to be endlessly stuck in your fears and away from me. That means I get to do the protection thing right now."
"I lost you from the time we were twelve and I got myself out, thank you very much."
"I swear Charma if you bring that up again, my head is going to explode."
If she could have spit daggers at him, he was sure she would have. Her pupils were huge, she was clearly biting the inside of her cheek, and her skin tone had taken on a red tinge that he imagined matched the color she was seeing right now. It was clear. Charma was pissed.
And he was totally turned on.
Without another thought, he reached out and pulled her into his lap. She made a sound that was close to a squeak as his mouth pressed down on hers. Her lips were smooth, soft, and completely feminine. She smelled clean, which was amazing considering the day they were having. Her skin was supple and warm.
She belonged to him.
Pulling back, she stared into his eyes. He was breathing hard as he gazed back. Without a word spoken, he leaned her down on the bed. His body loomed over hers and he became aware of how much bigger he was than she.
"I don't break, Jason."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Reading my mind again?"
"No. It's written all over your face."
Looking down, he kissed her again. Hard. He wanted to consume her. It was like she was a drug he was addicted to, and it had been too long since he'd had his fix. Gently, he nipped the bottom of her chin and was rewarded with her sensuous sigh. She ran her hands through his hair and he shuddered.
Charma was going to be dangerous to his health. There was no way he would ever get enough of her. He said his last thought aloud, knowing she would pull it from his mind if he didn't.
Touching her short blonde hair, he smiled. The look was perfect on Charma. When she'd been a young woman she'd worn it long—practically to the floor. Today she was this strong, sophisticated, complete person, and her entire look seemed to scream confidence, sex appeal.
He practically growled at the last thought. There were going to be far too many men who would look at her, and he suddenly realized he was a very jealous man.
Her eyes sparkled and she smiled like an imp. He pushed his thoughts into hers, desperate for her mind as his body grew harder and more strained, wanting to join with her in every possible way.
Punching his shoulders, she laughed as he felt his mind expelled at the same time. She nibbled at his neck. "You said you didn't want to be in my mind."
"Now I do."
She shook her head. "Too bad."
She was going to make him suffer for a while. He suppressed the grin that threatened to appear and pinched her on her backside. She yelped and laughed.
"Don't you want me in your head?"
"I did. Now I kind of like tormenting you."
He knelt above her, and reaching down, he pulled at her shirt until he managed to get it over her head. Her breasts called to him, demanding attention. In his life, he'd never felt more compelled to taste anything.
After a few tries, he finally got her bra off. "You're like something from a fantasy, Charma. It's like nothing could be so perfectly constructed."
"Oh, I'm flawed, but if you don't see them. I'm not pointing them out." She looked down at his hand where her bra had once been. He had no idea what she was thinking about because she still wouldn't let him in her damn mind. "You did that like you've done it before."
"I'm never going to be very good at it. But I'll practice, okay. I tried to get the bra
s off cadavers…"
She raised her hand to cut him off. "Okay, too much information for right now."
He nodded. "You were the one who brought it up."
She reached to kiss him again and he was undone. Charma was everything, his entire world. They were in the ruins of a mental health institution and all he could think about, his only focus in the entire world, was the small woman beneath him.
He'd pushed her away and nearly lost her to a demon but she was here with him now and he couldn't waste any more time. Every second they were together was a gift that might soon go away. They needed each other.
Her abs were smooth and flat. Charma was tiny, at least next to him, but she was curved in all the right places. With just his index finger, he drew a line down the center of her body starting at her neck and ending at the top of her pants.
"I want them off."
"Then I'm going to be all but completely naked and you will still be fully dressed."
He nodded. "My entire focus at the moment is on getting you into the nude."
"Not fair." She pulled at his shirt and he paused in his goal of removing her pants to help her in her task. Chest-to-chest, skin-to-skin was better. She was right.
Charma ran her hands over his chest, rubbing through his hair there, and he sighed. The things the woman could do by just touching him. His pants were becoming increasingly snug and if this went on much longer, he wasn't sure he would be able to actually take them off without hurting himself in the process.
She reached down and pulled at his zipper, releasing him. Her hand cupped his hardness and he groaned.
"Take them off."
He nodded and complied with her wishes.
Jason wasn't a man who thought very much about his own needs and emotions. Mostly, he felt neutral about things. But their day had been a trying one and it had caused him to feel all sorts of emotions he had avoided for years. Gently, he bit the side of Charma's neck. She squealed and he grinned. How could he have thought he could live without this?
The warmth from her body bled into his, and he sighed. Truth was, he had been cold for years and hadn't even known it. Charma wasn't just temperate, she was downright steamy. He needed her to fill him, to make him whole where he was empty. A low steady chanting noise filled his ears and he gasped.
"What is that?" He looked up, ready to jump and stop whoever it was that interfered in their moment.
"You don't hear that all the time?" Her voice was gentle and she stroked the side of his face.
"No." But he had, hadn't he? Goosebumps formed on his arms and his pulse increased. Tears filled his eyes. How could he have missed something he'd never before known?
"Yes you have, it's just one of those things you ignored."
The certainty in her voice startled him. He was sure she was right. There were probably a million things like that. He'd needed things to fit in a neat box and anything that hadn't had been thrown away where he didn't focus on it. For a smart man, he suddenly felt so foolish.
"What is it?"
"It's the Chanters. I have no idea what they're saying but they show up when we're doing something right, as if they're giving us consent or approval of our decision making."
He grinned. "So they approve of this." Running a hand down her body, he watched her shiver.
"Of our joining, I imagine. We're supposed to be together. It's part of the game plan."
He raised an eyebrow and smiled. "The game plan?"
"Maybe that's my wording, not theirs."
"I would imagine."
Jason found no more need for talking as he embraced Charma. Her warm and loving nature filled his, and he closed his eyes from the emotions he felt. Suddenly, her mind opened up to his. Whatever block she had built ceased and she was as transparent to him as he had been to her. In her soul, he found the same feelings he felt for her.
When they joined physically, it was like coming home after being adrift for an eternity. Charma closed her eyes and he stroked the side of her face. It had never felt like this, he hadn't known it could. The chanting became louder and louder until it filled his ears with a ringing so loud he thought for sure he might explode.
Charma called out his name and he was lost in her. Glad to exist in the chaos that filled his mind for eternity as long as she was there with him.
* * * *
After a time, he found his senses returning. He dared to open one eye. He sighed. Clearly, there was a heaven and he'd found it inside of Charma. She laughed, reminding him that she was almost always inside his mind.
"I guess I'd better not think anything bad because you'll know that too."
She whacked him in the arm and he grinned. "Like you could."
"I can. Just not about you." He stretched his arms and yawned. "This was a terrible idea."
"What?" Charma closed her eyes and shook her head.
"Now I'm relaxed and not at all prepared to do battle with the demons that hunt us."
"If they're hunting us, they're doing a terrible job. We haven't moved in over an hour."
"That doesn't mean they're not coming. Maybe they're just finishing with Drew and Marina before they come to finish with us."
She opened her eyes and sat up. Giving him a look that said she was not amused, she bent over the bed and retrieved her shirt. Pulling it over her head, she sighed as she picked up her bra and put it on under the shirt. "You're in a real glass half-empty kind of a mood, aren't you?" Biting down on her lip, she seemed to regard him warily. It occurred to him that he could just push into her mind and see what she was thinking about, but he decided that would be an invasion of privacy. "Are you always like this after sex?"
He laughed. "Is that a roundabout way of asking how many sexual partners I've had?"
"That's a very direct way of trying to figure out if I'm going to takeon massive amounts of pessimism every time we're together?"
"Oh, so then you're assuming we'll live through this to do it again?" He knew he was driving her crazy. If he'd had any question, the loud groan she made would have let him know he was right.
"Jason."
"No, I don't get like this after every sexual encounter. I'm just a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of this whole thing. Who in the world—or okay, the universe—thought it was a good idea to send us down here to fight these things and leave us so vulnerable to them?"
She stood and handed him his underwear, which he quickly put on. When he looked up, he was handed his pants. Charma had dressed herself and seemed intent on helping him to get that way. It wasn't lost on Jason that Charma had probably decided he needed to be dressed to reassert his sense of control and order. The fact that she was handling him so adeptly should have bothered him but didn't.
Once he was dressed, she stepped forward and brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Do you think if we were really that vulnerable, they would be this afraid of us?"
"Afraid?" He wasn't following her.
"Jason, these creatures have gone to a great deal of trouble to try to eliminate us. Just a few months ago, they kidnapped Kal, murdered Isabelle's parents, sent a possessed police chief after us, imprisoned you in your own mind, and just moments ago dropped the ceiling on us. Yet, we are still here."
"Sounds like we've been lucky."
"Or maybe we're just not so easy to kill."
He nodded. It was possible.
In any case, if he wanted to save Charma, he needed to get them out of the mental health institution his parents had helped build and never look back. Rescue was not coming, at least not fast enough for his satisfaction. That meant they were going out the window.
Charma whirled around, a panic-stricken expression on her face. "I hate heights."
"I know. It's convenient you can read my thoughts. I never have to explain anything."
He opened the window and closed his eyes at the unexpected heat he felt outside. It was nighttime but that hadn't cooled anything down.
"Come on. I won't let you fall." He hel
d out his hand and she took it. He could feel her shaking and pulled her close. "I've done lots of rock climbing. Neither of us is getting hurt." He hoped.
Chapter Sixteen
Gabriel jumped out of the taxi and stared up at the clearly under-attack building that stood in front of him. At one time, perhaps it had been a tribute to beautiful architecture. Now it was a mess. Smoke poured from the top floors and a crowd of screaming people surrounded the outside.
The aforementioned grouping held torches, and Gabriel had to suppress a laugh. It was like something out of a bad monster movie. Only this wasn't a movie. This was his damn life, and the answers—or in the very least, Sebastian—were inside. That meant he needed to be in there, too.
"I wouldn't go in there, if I were you." The cab driver he'd all but forgotten called out from the window. "Come on back in, I'll take you anywhere you want to go."
Surprised, Gabriel turned to face the man. He smiled. Somewhere along the line, he'd forgotten that people were for the most part decent and hard working.
"Thank you, but I'm afraid I have no choice but to go in there."
"Listen, buddy, I don't usually interfere in the places where my passengers are dropped off, but this just gives me a bad feeling, man. I don't want to leave you here."
Gabriel nodded. "I appreciate that. Usually, I land on my feet. I'll be fine."
"If you're sure."
"I am." At least he hoped he was. There were some things he could have set in better order. If he'd known he was going to New Jersey with a large possibility of death trailing at his heels, he would have been more organized.
The taxi driver nodded and sped away. Gabriel watched him go and wished he would have gotten back into the car and left with him. Oh well, he'd made his own bed when he'd decided to come looking for Sebastian. Now he'd have to live with the consequences.
Looking up, he squinted into the darkness. There was definitely someone on that roof and from the looks of things, they were stuck. He might not be able to pull himself through space like he could do for other people, which necessitated the need for an airplane if he wanted to travel, but he could do something about this particular scenario. For brief periods of time, he could levitate. With just a thought, he lifted himself off the ground, still proud as hell that he could do that, and made for the roof. He, and whomever it was that had managed to land on the roof, would have to figure out what to do with the crazies down below together.