Bloodline (Paranormal Romance, Dark & Twisted) Saving Demons Series Book 1

  ****

  I really wasn't passed out for very long. When I opened my eyes and the bleariness cleared, I found myself in Romans' arms. I'd fallen to the floor. Roman had gathered me up into a sitting position. I was leaning against his chest. Izzy was on the other side of me, looking freaked out and worried. The pain in my head was gone now, but the gooey, black shadow in my head felt thicker and fuller.

  "What happened?" Roman asked. I became very aware of our proximity, the fact that I was lying against him, how his arms were around my shoulders and how thick and solid his body felt. I wanted to spring away from him, but I couldn't move that fast. Instead, I was slow and awkward as I moved to sit up on my own. Roman guided me, helping me back into the chair. He kept his hand on the table beside me as he pulled his chair around so that he could sit right next to me. I assumed that he thought that this position prepared him to catch me if I were to fall again.

  "Tell me what happened," Roman demanded.

  "They are listening. They don't want you to tell The Coven," I said. It wasn't until I said this that I started to trip-out about what had just happened. "They're inside my head. I mean, they were. Bane chased them off, I think. He's protecting me from them right now. I can feel him." I looked up at Roman, feeling the desperation fill my eyes. "If Bane hadn't been protecting me, I am totally positive that they could have killed me. They can kill me. Right here and right now. Why would they care about us telling The Coven if they have this kind of power over me? Why would it matter where they are at? They can get to me from anywhere!"

  Izzy covered her mouth with both of her hands. Her eyes were big and round, but she didn't say anything at all.

  Roman put his hand on the back of my chair and leaned into me, while staring into my eyes in that weird, deep way again. "Keep her safe. I will help protect her, too," he said.

  I blinked at him, feeling my brows crunch together. "You totally did not just look at me and talk to Bane, did you? Cuz, seriously Roman, that's just way too weird."

  "Weird? Your boyfriend is the son of Lucifer, and you're telling me that I'm the one who's weird?"

  "Yes. Just. . .please don't do that again. It gives me the creeps," I said.

  I witness a change in the way Roman was looking at me. It was as if he was discovering that I was some rare and hidden treasure that had finally been unearthed. I felt a little uncomfortable by his sudden shift in his energy. "You are truly one remarkable person, Luna Lanchester," he said.

  "I'm afraid you're wrong, Roman Gordon. It seems I have this condition see, where I'm not one person. I am many."

  "See? I told you she had a wonderful personality," Izzy said.

  I looked at Izzy, questioning her with my eyes. She grinned innocently. "Sorry, I just thought the two of you would get along great, that's all. I didn't say too much, really. Just everything I know, which really isn't too much in comparison to what there really is to know about you, right?"

  "Isabelle, finish your breakfast," Roman said, sounding more like a parent than a brother.

  "I lost my appetite. Luna is right, Roman, Bane can't go away. Not if he's protecting her."

  "I can protect her," Roman said confidently. "And even if Bane is escorted out of Sleepy Hallow, he can still protect her too."

  "Of course you can protect her. I have no doubt about that. But Roman! We're talking about the sons of Lucifer, here," Izzy said.

  "What about them?" came a vaguely familiar voice from behind. We all looked up to find little Aine with her big-attitude hair. She was wearing a black mini skirt with black fishnet stockings and high healed boots that laced up to her knees. Her shirt was also black, with long, bell-shaped sleeves. She had her eyes finely crafted into slants, and frosted with white glitter.

  I rose to my feet, towering over her. "Go away, Aine, before I decide to break your nose, too," I said.

  Roman stood up beside me as if ready to stop me. Or to protect me. I wasn't sure which.

  "I didn't come here to start trouble, Luna. I wanted to talk to Isabelle. Privately," Aine said.

  "There isn't anything you need to say to her that you can't say in front of me."

  "It's not you I'm worried about, it's him," Aine said pointing at my eyes.

  "Gees, not you, too." I mumbled, more to myself than anyone. I plopped back down in the chair.

  "I'll be back," Izzy said, and she followed Aine inside the coffee shop. I watched them until they disappeared out of sight.

  "She's harmless outside her pack, Luna," Roman said, sitting back down beside me. He put his hand over mine on the table. I looked at our hands together, surprised and confused. Then I quickly jerked my hand out from under his.

  "If Bane is anything like my last boyfriend, he's definitely going to kick your ass for that," I said. I was kind of joking. Bane was not really my boyfriend, and I knew this.

  "Sean," Roman said, totally catching me off guard.

  "What?"

  "Your last boyfriend. His name is Sean."

  "And how in the world do you know that. Wait!" I held up my hand to stop him from answering. "If you're gonna tell me you are some sort of mind reader or you have magical powers or you got wings tucked into that shirt somehow then make something up. Lie to me! Cuz I really don't want to know any more magical people. Seriously. I'm not even joking."

  "No. I don't read minds," Roman said. For the very first time, I saw him smile. It lit up his electric-blue eyes and made them look like magic incarnate. He reminded me so much of Dammon that it hurt. It made me forget what we were talking about.

  "You don't have to read minds to be magical," he added. "Isabelle told me all about you and Sean."

  "But, I didn't tell Izzy anything about Sean, so how could she tell you?"

  "I didn't say her information came from you."

  "Then who did it come from?" I demanded.

  "Ashmodai."

  I blinked at Roman.

  "You wanted Isabelle to know the hell you have lived so that she could understand how you could believe there could be no god in your world," Roman said. He took my hand again, this time squeezing it firmly, tenderly, as if preparing for when I would try to jerk away again. But this time, I didn't. I couldn't. I was too shocked.

  "But, I just wanted that this morning! There's no way Ashmodai could know I'd feel that way."

  "God knows," Roman said, smiling warmly. "God knew you would feel that way before you knew you felt that way."

  I blinked. A few times.

  "Isabelle has learned a lot about you. And in turn, so have I," he said, while wearing a triumphant-looking expression.

  I suddenly became aware of his hands on mine, around mine, caressing my fingers. I tried to pull away, but he was prepared. He squeezed, ever-so-slightly, and kept my hand from escaping.

  "You do not have to be frightened of me, Luna," he said, which made no sense to me, because not so long ago I was under the impression that he was completely appalled by me. Heck, he hardly acknowledged my existence on our way into town. He had been bully-like and sort of cold this entire time, and now here he was being gentle and caring.

  "No man should ever treat a woman the way that Sean treated you."

  I felt so embarrassed, so exposed. I dropped my chin and wished that I could curl up inside my skin like a turtle in her shell.

  "I am not certain, as of yet, why, but suddenly I am reminded of a story in the bible. It is one I would like for you to read. It is in the book of Hosea. And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms."

  At first when he said this I was confused. I had never read the bible and so I was totally unfamiliar with the books within the book, but when I absorbed what he seemed to be implying about the whoredom, I was instantly defensive and instantly felt insulted.

  I yanked my hands free and rose to my feet so quick that the back of my knees hit the chair and sent it crashing to the deck floor. "I am not a whore!" I spun around, intending to storm off and never
ever see him again, but he caught me by the arm and stopped me with a firm, yet painless grip, on my wrist.

  "I did not say that you were a whore, Luna," he said.

  "And this is no different from what Sean would do," I tried to yank my wrist free from his grasp, but he was strong. So, very strong.

  "Yes, it is," Roman said, gently pulling me closer to him. He was calm. It was not the fake, icy stuff. It was the real stuff. "This is entirely different," he said.

  We were so close that my wrist and his hand that was gripping it were against his sternum. He was almost as tall as Bane. I had to look upward to glare into his eyes.

  Yes, I believed him that he was different than Sean, but I was still angry at him. Even though I had no idea why. And I wanted it to stay like this. I didn't want to like Roman. I wanted him to keep pissing me off so that I could find reasons to keep a healthy distance between him and I.

  Roman was right. This was entirely different. Sean would've been crushing my bones. I probably would have been struck or hurt in some way by now and Sean would have been holding me like this to prove that he could, to prove that he had ruler ship over me. Roman was holding me as if he wanted to protect me from the dangers that lurked beyond his presence, like Roman wanted me with him so that I would be safe. He wasn't trying to prove anything, besides the fact that I didn't need to be afraid of him.

  "I can't let you leave here alone. I can understand that you are angry right now, but it's not safe for you to just leave like this," he said.

  "I told you. Bane isn't going to hurt me. And if you're worried about The Coven, I can assure you, I can take care of myself," I said, sounding more like a hissing snake than a butterfly infested girl in the hand of a man she secretly found excitingly invigorating.

  "I apologize if I have offended you. Now, please, sit down," Roman said. Still holding my arm, he picked the chair up off the floor and then guided me down into it. Even though he was polite about it, it was obvious he wasn't going to give me any other options but to do as he asked.

  I wanted Izzy to return. I wanted to go home and curl up in my bed and just sleep until everything just went away. I wanted to know why in the world I found Roman so interesting. He had a confidence that teetered on the edge of arrogance. He had a bold and proud exterior that seemed to cloak something warm and kind. He was beautiful and strong, and I just couldn't look at him enough to get my fill. But still, Roman Gordon was not my type. I wanted, I needed, to be in Bane's arms. I longed for Bane to tell me that everything would be all right.

  And I ached for Sean.

  I looked out over the stream at the forest beyond. I couldn't see Bane, but I knew that he was still there, watching me. I wondered how he could just stay wherever he was, knowing how I needed him so badly. Bane had the power to make everything all right, and he chose not to. It reminded me of how I longed to dream about him and he refused to come to me.

  Why? My mind begged him for an answer to this simple little question. I was aggravated because there were so many complicated questions floating around in my head, and here I was, asking such a simple one. And even the simple ones I was denied answers to.

  But then, unexpectedly, an answer came. It wasn't something that I could hear in my head. The answer did not come in the form of words. It came in an entirely different way. The answer came in a knowing. I just simply knew.

  "You weaken me, My Lady Moon," Bane said, without saying.

  "What is it? What is going on?" Roman looked deeply concerned. He also looked ready to catch me if I were to fall again. "Are they in your head? Are you going to---"

  "I'm fine, Roman," I said, unable to keep from smiling. I knew he probably thought the smile was for him, but it wasn't. My smile belonged to Bane. Everything that lived inside of me belonged to Bane.

  When Izzy came back, she was very excited. She told us how Aine had snuck away from her family to find Izzy so that she could arrange a time and a place tonight where the two of them could meet and talk about Izzy's god and salvation. Izzy seemed like she was on some kind of high. It was all she could talk about on our way back up the mountain pass. Before Izzy and Roman left me at my house, Izzy told me that she would be back after she met with Aine. Roman said he'd come back, too, that he had something to do in the city that would take him about five or six hours. He didn't like the idea of leaving me alone. He actually wanted me to hang out with Mrs. Gordon until he got back. Of course, there was no way I was going to do that. He even tried to get me to go to the city with him. There was no way I was going to do that, either, so it was with great reluctance that Roman dropped me off at my house.

  Where Bane could come for me.

  And oh, how I hoped he would come for me!

  I was jonesing like a heroin addict. I needed my fix. Both of them. I needed Bane and I needed Sean.

  ****

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Bane