Surrounded By Flames (The Flames Trilogy Book 2)

  This adult thing wasn’t so hard after all.

  ***

  Since night had fallen when they made it back to the house, the others disappeared to their rooms to sleep, but Jasmine knew they’d left to hide and avoid a confrontation with the hulking Amon whose hands hadn’t stopped shaking since he’d found them in the woods. When Jasmine began climbing the steps, Amon stopped her, grabbing her wrist. He didn’t say a word as he pulled her into the living room and sat her down on the couch, while he squatted on the coffee table, facing her. He stared at her for several seconds, still not speaking.

  Jasmine shifted uncomfortably. “What?”

  Amon ran a hand through his hair. “You still, even after everything, act foolishly without any consideration to the people in your lives.” His bottom lip trembled. His honey brown eyes looked darker, but it could have been from the hard lines of anger on his face.

  “Amon, I—”

  Amon held his hand up. “No. I don’t want any excuses. The demons are after us all, and we have to be smart right now. You can’t just go running off whenever you feel like it. Staying here, at this house, unless we are all together, is the safest action.”

  Jasmine tapped her foot against the wooden floor. “Am I allowed to talk now?”

  Amon nodded.

  “I didn’t have anything to do with this. Cole and the others planned a fun night so we could forget about all the bad things going on right now. Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, and honestly, I didn’t even want to do it to begin with…but, surprisingly, I had a really good time. You should have come.”

  Amon narrowed his eyes, then looked at the ground. “I wouldn’t have come. It’s dangerous.”

  Jasmine sighed. “So is everything right now, but we can’t lose ourselves and who we are just because demons want our world. Who we are makes us strong, and I, for one, will never forget that again.”

  Amon looked pained when he lifted his eyes from the floor. “I won’t risk you, Jasmine. What Bael put you through…I’ll never let something like that happen again.”

  Jasmine smiled. She’d known where his thoughts were before he’d said any of them out loud. Part of their bond? Maybe, but probably just because she knew him. More than she knew herself sometimes. Guilt from that time threatened to pull her under, but she refused to let it. Neither of them could afford to let the guilt burrow into their hearts. They had to release it.

  She wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tight, and lowered her voice to a whisper. “It won’t happen again. As long as we all stick together, nothing can stand between us.”

  “I hope you’re right.” He leaned his head against her shoulder and she placed her palm on his head, running her fingers through his hair.

  When she turned his face toward her, he kissed her and she didn’t stop him.

  She pulled back before they could get carried away. “We have to figure out how to deal with Bael. Before you say anything, I have an idea.”

  Amon stayed silent, waiting. Jasmine told him of her idea with Evangeline, explaining how he must care about her, at least a little bit.

  He rubbed his chin. “You know, that idea isn’t half bad.”

  “I don’t want to hurt her.” Jasmine paused, leaning back in the couch. “I think Bael might come to save her, and if he does, we’d have the ball in our court.”

  Amon rolled his eyes. “I’m not even going to ask what that one means.”

  Jasmine laughed and playfully shoved his shoulder. “One day, I’ll remember you aren’t from this century. Or…maybe I won’t because it’s a ton of fun hearing your reactions to things you really know nothing about.”

  Amon scoffed. “Hey! That’s not very nice.”

  “Who ever said I was nice?”

  Amon stared at her with a hooded expression and brushed his fingers down her back, his touch lingering long enough to stir her heat. Jasmine held in a breath, grabbed his hand, and pulled him up the stairs.

  She loved him. Why not show him just how much?

  When she closed the door behind her, she didn’t know what would happen between them, but none of the ideas in her head scared her. Even if he only slept beside her, she’d feel safe, something she needed more than anything else right now.

  But if all they did was sleep, she’d be surprised.

  Chapter 27

  Words Lead to Action

  Beau

  Another world. Beau was living in an entirely different world than all the rest of the people sitting in the living room right now. Why poke fire with an already burning stick?

  They, as in the whole group of good guys, wanted to go after Bael. Not just him, though, his demons too.

  He shook his head with a hand on his forehead. “Do you have any idea how dumb your plan sounds?” Beau hadn’t meant to say anything out loud, but he couldn’t help himself any longer. Listening to Jasmine and Amon go back and forth with the rest of them grated on his nerves.

  Jasmine placed her hands on her hips and glared at Beau. Uh-oh. I know that look.

  She was about to lay into him, but not if he didn’t let her. As she opened her mouth, Beau spoke. “I’m sorry, guys, but this just sounds like a suicide mission. Bael seems to outsmart us every time. Sure, we are lucky, and if he gets us, we will probably get away with the help of our friends and all, but the last one was a close call.” He looked directly at Jasmine. “I don’t think the risk would be worth the reward in this case.”

  Unfortunately, not a single person in the group agreed with him.

  Gemma narrowed her eyes from the couch. “He won’t stop coming after Jasmine.”

  Caim threw his hands up and shrugged, hiking his foot up to rest on the coffee table as he stood beside it. “Bael doesn’t give up easily. It’s time we give him a taste of his own medicine.”

  Cole cleared his throat as he sat on the floor, peering over his shoulder to meet Beau’s eyes. “Yeah, I mean, I agree with everyone. We can’t let him always have the upper hand.”

  Teeny rubbed his nose with his hand, then rubbed his hand on the side of the couch. Beau cringed. “Listen. I agree with these guys too. We can’t just let Bael be in charge all the time. Right now, he is because he attacks first, which leaves us vulnerable. If we plan the fight and keep it on our terms, things will be a heck of a lot better, dontcha think?”

  Lamia tilted her head to the side, her hands resting on the back of the couch, but her eyes said, “I can’t really argue.”

  Amber shrugged her shoulders so high they almost went up over her head as she stood behind Caim. Okay, so that might have been an exaggeration on Beau’s part, but still.

  Basically, every person had an argument for why they believed him to be wrong. He could come up with more reasons why this wouldn’t work, but he wouldn’t because he understood where each of them came from. It didn’t stop the bad feeling from cramping his stomach, a pain worse than anything he’d ever experienced when he’d been alive.

  Beau let his arms drop limply to his sides, wiping the emotion from his face. “Whatever. You guys don’t agree with me, do it your way.”

  After he’d uttered the words, he realized they might have been a bit juvenile, but he didn’t care. Even though he’d sacrificed himself for this war, had become an angel, and trained for battle, it didn’t matter because none of them would listen to him. It would never change. He would always be Beau, the guy who’d been Jasmine’s boyfriend and mucked things up with her, who’d been jealous and hotheaded, even childish. No amount of time would change anything because that was who everyone had met to begin with, and first impressions meant everything.

  Jasmine snapped her fingers. “Beau! Can you hear me?”

  He looked up from the ground and met her eyes, nodding.

  “Good. I’ve only called your name four times.” She rolled her eyes. “I know you think it’s too dangerous. We all respect your opinion, but we can’t just hide and wait for Bael to come for us again. It’s time we take some initia
tive before the demons wipe out every last human on this planet. The death tolls are still coming in. There is one news station still on air and they reported that the demons have spread out. Of course, they are still calling them terrorists, but that doesn’t matter. We know the truth. They reported the demons have spread out, different groups attacking different states. Before, they all moved as one unit, one army, and now…not so much. We have to push ourselves and stop them before…”

  Jasmine left the rest unspoken, but Beau finished her speech in his head. Before it’s too late.

  Maybe they had a point. Maybe it was time to make a move. Beau stood straighter. “Okay. If we do this, we need a foolproof plan. It has to have layers of ‘in case this happens’ or ‘in case that happens’ so that we’re prepared for anything. Is that okay with everyone?”

  They all nodded.

  “Good, now let’s start talking strategy,” Beau said.

  “I think going after Evangeline would be the best option. We won’t have to fight, but we can be ready when he comes to get her.” Jasmine shifted her weight to one leg and leaned her elbow against the TV stand behind her.

  Beau tilted his head from side to side. “It might work.” The tone of his voice lacked any enthusiasm, even to his own ears. He could see the idea working, but he could also see it not working so he didn’t know if it was right.

  The right plan shouldn’t have a part that didn’t work. They shouldn’t be able to find anything that could go wrong because there wouldn’t be any way that it could. However, Beau was a realist, and he knew that every plan had a weakness, something that could make it backfire. That fact alone had made him express his opinion and make sure they explored all options. They needed to know all the outcomes so they could expect the worst, as well as the best.

  Beau had a hard time thinking Bael capable of caring about anyone enough to swoop in and save them, especially an angel who’d already betrayed her own kind. Beau had to believe Bael smart enough to know if she’d betrayed her own kind, she’d certainly betray him if someone more powerful came along. But maybe Bael had more power than Lucifer. A lot of things had skirted past his ears in Heaven, especially about Bael. Beau had never heard a thing of his weakness. Only his strength.

  He looked around the room one more time, just now noticing Charmeine, Ella, and Gazardiel weren’t in attendance. “Where are the other angels?”

  Amon shrugged, so quiet until now that Beau had forgotten him at the front of the room standing beside Jasmine. “They said they had some things to take care of. I never asked what.”

  Of course they would leave him out. Beau’s stomach dropped because no matter what, he would never be a part of the angel team, not really. He could see his angel life before him, full of being alone and left behind, never finding out what the others kept disappearing for. Now he was just being melodramatic and he really needed to stop. The whole self-pity thing should have been cut off when he’d died. And he didn’t like wallowing, at least, not most of the time.

  After a little more talk, they decided the plan of going after Evangeline would be the right move. Beau still had reservations, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter.

  He knew he’d never be a leader for the good guys. He wouldn’t want to be. He hated being the voice of reason, but these guys needed one so he’d do his best to be it. When had he changed, willing to be whoever the team needed him to be? Oh, right. Probably when he died.

  Chapter 28

  Execution Style

  Jasmine

  The plan seemed simple enough. Ella had seen Evangeline enter Bael’s house sometime last night, Moloch leading the way. Jasmine hoped her demon father didn’t get hurt in the crossfire. For some reason, she’d always kind of liked him, but that fact alone wouldn’t save him. Maybe they could get him to join their side, especially since the threat of her turning evil was gone.

  Jasmine was sitting on the couch, watching the news reports on TV, which all said the same thing: humans were dying all over the country. The killing wouldn’t stop. The Army couldn’t defeat the terrorists. Not terrorists. Demons. If only Jasmine could tell them all that. And if only they’d believe her.

  Terrorist would probably be easier to deal with than the enemies they faced now. But how could the government think their red-eyed foes were a group of terrorists? Fear made them believe anything other than the truth, she supposed.

  Standing, Jasmine walked out the front door and sat on the porch swing, swaying back and forth while the warm breeze tickled her face. Today, the sun shone bright, making the green grass sparkle and all the summer blooms look brighter. Jasmine couldn’t remember the last time it had rained, but she assumed by now they needed some to quench the dry land. She leaned back, crossing one foot underneath her, and stopped her momentum, letting the wind move her as her foot dangled just above the porch.

  She stared at Bael’s house, narrowing her eyes. The demon had done unbearable things to her. Mentally excruciating things that she’d shoved so far back in her mind she hoped she never found them again. He hadn’t harmed her physically, probably because he’d wanted her as his queen.

  Bile swam up her esophagus and Jasmine gulped it down. She’d wanted to be his queen more than anything—a fact that sickened her straight to her core.

  Now was her chance to make it all right. She just hoped she could.

  Jasmine didn’t think Bael cared enough about Evangeline to rescue her. She wanted to believe in their plan, especially since she’d thought it up, but she couldn’t. She’d seen Bael, been with him and spent time with him. The only thing taking Evangeline would do was leave him without a healer, and he hadn’t been too injured yet, so that wouldn’t bother him. It might soon, though. If Jasmine had her way.

  Jasmine knew the Angel Blessed had been training together, working on joining their powers. They wouldn’t know what they could do to a demon until they tested it out on one. Lucifer and his part of the demon army were no longer in the area, so finding them would be a bit tricky. Bael remained here, squatting in the house across the street, with a much smaller demon army. Perhaps he didn’t have as many followers now that Lucifer had returned.

  Jasmine sighed, her mind turning to Amon. He had no powers to offer her, but his strength was unrivaled, something she needed since she didn’t have much of her own. He would be her anchor, and when he started shooting her golden flames from his fingertips, Bael wouldn’t know what hit him.

  She couldn’t wait to see the surprise on his face when he realized Amon could hurt him just like she could now.

  Jasmine shifted, dropping her leg from under her to hang toward the floor. The screen door slammed and she looked up. Cole stepped outside, sitting down beside her. “What are you doing out here all by yourself?”

  Jasmine shrugged. “Just thinking, I guess.”

  Cole winked. “Be careful of that. You could get hurt.”

  Jasmine chuckled and nudged his shoulder with her own. “Hey! If I didn’t know you, I might take offense to that.”

  Cole smiled, his dark eyes gleaming. “Guess it’s good you know me, then, huh?”

  They sat together in a comfortable silence after that, swinging back and forth and sometimes side to side when they weren’t in sync. After several minutes, Cole leaned back. “Are you nervous about going up against Bael?”

  “We aren’t really going up against Bael. We are just sneaking around him to get Evangeline.”

  Cole tilted his head and pressed his lips together. “If you believe we are going to get that angel out of his grasp without him being a part of the fight…I won’t say what I think about you because it might be too mean for you to handle.”

  Jasmine widened her eyes and stared hard at him. She’d tried not to think about it much, but Cole had a point. She’d forgotten to weigh all the outcomes. She hadn’t taken this one into account at all, imagining everything would go exactly as planned. Maybe she’d been too blinded by the need to win that she didn’t want to face wh
at might really happen.

  Cole wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to upset you.”

  Jasmine leaned into him. “You didn’t. You just made me face reality and I thank you for that.”

  Cole ruffled her hair. “Anytime. Now, let’s go find the others. Sitting out here alone isn’t good for your health.”

  Jasmine nodded, standing beside him. Together they walked back into the house. Jasmine was lucky to have a friend like Cole. She hadn’t spent as much time with him as she would have liked, with any of them really, but in the end, they’d always be there for each other. At least, as long as they lived, which might not be much longer if they had to fight Bael.

  ***

  That night, Ella and Gazardiel decided they would try to get Evangeline. By themselves.

  Jasmine shook her head. “Oh, no. That isn’t going to happen. You aren’t going in alone.”

  Ella faced her. “It isn’t your decision. I don’t think it’s wise for all of us to go. It’s too hard to hide so many people, and it’s not like we can really sneak around when there are so many of us.”

  Jasmine couldn’t argue with that, but she still didn’t want to split up. Every single time they’d split up, something bad happened. “We have to stick together.”

  Amon placed his hand gently on her shoulder and squeezed. “I agree. Every time we have split up, somebody has been captured. It isn’t wise to break off into smaller groups. If we do this, we do this together.”

  Jasmine smiled. It was like he’d read her mind, and maybe he had. They were linked now, after all. She didn’t know the ins and outs of that yet, but she figured they could feed off of each other’s emotions now. She could feel his most of the time, just as she assumed he could feel hers.