Chapter Eight

Val was eager to report to Donovan; eager and afraid. She had hurried to get ready, but she also tried to spend what little time she had dressing up to his standards. He reacted to her so differently depending on what she looked like, and right now she wanted to pull every advantage to her side that she possibly had. That was why she was wearing a low-cut silk blouse, a black mini-skirt and the tight black boots that came up to her knees that she knew drove him wild. She didn’t know how he was going to react to this news, but she didn’t want to take any chances. She expected him to be pleased by this, but just in case he wasn’t, she needed something to fall back on.  

Biting her lip, Val went back and forth in her mind between it being good news that Nathaniel was back or very, very bad. Things tended to be one or the other where Donovan was concerned. He was hardly ever impartial to anything. Val just hoped this instance it turned out in her favor.

No, it’s a good thing, she tried to convince herself for the third time. With Nathaniel’s intentions being made clear, they would be able to strategize effectively on how to use Kyla against him, on how to turn him; both of which they had failed at before.

Val’s confidence faltered on the thought. The last thing she wanted to do was remind Donovan of his failure, but then that part wasn’t her fault. She had done her part, and as soon as the rest of this was finished, she would finally be inducted as the thirteenth member of the Coven, just like Donovan had promised her. That was when the real fun would begin.

As Val entered the Coven Undergrounds via the Manitou Cliff Dwellings entrance that she often used for impromptu informant meetings, she felt someone grab her and pull her so hard that she was slammed against the wall of the cave.

It was Balak…and he was ravenous.

Val’s heart plunged in fear and she tried to shove him off, but Balak wouldn’t have it. “What are you doing?!” she hissed at him. “Are you trying to get us both killed?!”

Balak didn’t respond; she wasn’t sure he could. She couldn’t place it, but there was something distinctly wrong with his eyes. She had never seen him like this before. He had never used his strength against her, especially not like this; and for the first time she was legitimately afraid of him.

Balak didn’t use words. He didn’t have to. Val knew exactly what he wanted.

She tried to wrestle free from him, but his grip was like iron. She tried to plead with him that this was a stupid mistake, but he didn’t even hear her. And when she thought about calling for help, she knew exactly what that would bring; a swifter death than she had already earned. The truth being exposed of what she had done, of how she had betrayed the one who had always seen her as belonging to him, as his own possession…the one of all the Nephilim she should never have betrayed. It had all been a game to her at first, a power-hungry thrill to see how deeply she could get them under her control.

Val wasn’t the one in control anymore. Holding her against the rocks in that darkly lit cavern, Balak stripped every ounce of that away from her that she used to possess. And when he was done with her, he left. Not a word, not a trace. He just left her there to face Donovan alone.

Val was shaking as she pulled the sides of her blouse back over her shoulders. There were three buttons missing. She cursed out loud. Running her fingers madly through her hair and her palms under her eyes where she knew her mascara was running from her tears, she told herself she had to get it together. Donovan couldn’t see her like this or he would know.

Val improvised by unbuttoning the rest of the buttons and tying the two ends of the blouse together, revealing the outline of the black lacy bra she wore underneath. Hurrying through the caves to find Donovan, she stopped abruptly when she saw him waiting for her in a room that she didn’t expect to find him in. Val knew he had to see her surprise.

She was nervous about the way he looked at her, though she couldn’t entirely determine what it meant…or what he knew. Donovan remained sitting, hunched over on the edge of a rock as water dripped slowly, unnervingly from the cave wall behind him, making a plinging noise that was about to make Val lose her mind. It was what she saw in his eyes that she was afraid of. She was almost certain now that he knew about her and Balak; she just didn’t understand why he didn’t call her out on it or kill her for this betrayal.

“You have news for me, I take it?” Donovan prompted her.

Val swallowed and stepped forward. “Yes, my lord,” she told him. “It would seem that Nathaniel has returned.”

Donovan kept his eyes fixed in one spot on the floor of the cave and Val held her breath as she waited for his reaction. She didn’t understand when he appeared confused. She had hoped for excited, or even simply pleased, but confused she wasn’t sure what to do with.

“Did he seem distraught?” Donovan asked her.

Val wasn’t sure what he was getting at. “No,” she told him. “Should he have?”

Donovan looked concerned, almost angry. He stood and began to pace. “Good work,” he told her. “That will be all.”

Val gave him a nervous, forced smile. “What else would you have me do?” she asked him.

“Continue with the last assignment I gave you,” Donovan instructed her. “That wedge must be driven between Caden and Kyla.”

Val agreed readily. “There is nothing I would love more,” she said.

Donovan smirked and mumbled, “Yes, I am sure.”

It felt like a loaded statement.

Val became uncomfortable again, wondering what he meant by that and what he really knew. But she didn’t stick around to ask him. She couldn’t leave that place fast enough.

<> 

Holding Kyla securely in his arms, Nathaniel flew high above the city, high enough above the clouds that the lights appeared as fireflies and her whole body went rigid in shock from the rush. She screamed at him profusely, her eyes slammed shut and her face buried in his chest, but he only laughed.

“I’m not going to drop you,” he told her. “Honestly, you’d think you would trust me by now.”

Nathaniel tore through the sky, causing Kyla to cling to him in a death-grip (and almost lose her heels.) She continued breathing murderous threats to him, but he didn’t pay attention. Instead he darted with her through the air, over the city and across vast distances in a matter of seconds. And before any time at all had passed, he could see the Denver lights ahead.

Slowing his wings and setting her softly on the roof of a skyscraper that jutted out from the 16^th Street Mall, Nathaniel held her steady as she shakily set her feet on the surface beneath them. Kyla stared up at him with bigger eyes than he had ever seen and wobbled as she attempted to balance herself. She tried getting upset with him, but it didn’t work at all. In spite of her insisting that that was not what she’d had in mind, there was an excitement in her face that she couldn’t hide from him if she wanted to.

Nathaniel flashed a smile at her. “Pretend to be mad all you want,” he said. “I know you liked it.”

Kyla gave him a look and he gave her one back. “Where are we?” she asked him, looking out at the lights that glowed around them from the buildings on every side.  

“The Ritz-Carlton, I believe,” Nathaniel answered her. “Well, the roof of it, anyway.” He slipped a hand around her waist and guided her to the edge of the roof even though she was hesitant to let him.

Kyla was nervous when he took her to the edge of the building.

“A little trust, please,” he said.

She frowned and sat unsteadily beside him, clinging to his arm as he helped her to adjust. She set her pumps down next to her, thankful that Nathaniel had warned her about them. She would have really hated to lose those.   

“That isn’t so bad now, is it?” he asked.

Kyla looked out over the city and tried to fight the smile that was creeping up on her lips. “Yeah, I guess not,” she admitted.

It pleased him to see her already giving in. Kyla loosened her grip on his arm a little and Nathaniel could see the thrill starting to build in her eyes. He thought there might be nothing he loved more than seeing her excited.

Looking out over the city with her, Nathaniel took a deep breath and started to relax. “Caleb and I do this all the time,” he told her. “When we’re on watch in Oxford, we sit up above the city like this for hours.”

Kyla turned to him and tilted her head a little. “Tell me about Caleb,” she said.

“He’s the youngest,” Nathaniel explained. “By far the most human of us all. He’s defiant and rash and stubborn as hell,” he laughed. Then he paused for a moment and met her gaze. “I told him about you.”

Kyla seemed surprised by that. “What? When?”

“When I went back to London. After the night…” he thought better of using the description in his head that involved Donovan’s first attack on her. “After the first time I brought you to my uncle’s house.”

Kyla’s surprise still held. “You went back to London?”

Nathaniel wondered if he should have mentioned that. “Had to,” he told her; then he quickly went back to what he was saying. “Caleb,” he said, “he told me not to be afraid.”

Kyla looked curious. “What were you afraid of?”

Nathaniel didn’t want to answer her, but he found himself doing it anyway. “I was afraid of what you did to me,” he admitted. “Of what you made me feel.”

“Even then?” she asked. 

Nathaniel felt his heartbeat falter. “Before, actually.”

Kyla looked away from him, her cheeks flushing a shade of pink that made him want to kiss her. “Caleb…” she said, “he means a lot to you, doesn’t he?”

Nathaniel looked down. “Yes, he does.”

Kyla bit her lip, her own gaze falling away from the city and back to the ledge of the building. “I’ve always been protective of Matthew like that,” she said. “It’s like instinct to me.” She was quiet for a long time after she said it, appearing to contemplate the whole idea, when finally she looked up at him again. “Why did you bring me here tonight, Nathaniel?”

“What?” he asked teasingly. “Should I have stuck with dinner and a movie?”

Kyla stayed serious. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

Nathaniel leaned back a little, adjusting his arms so he could look up at the smog-covered sky instead of the twinkling lights of the city. “Honestly, it wasn’t my intention for us to end up on the roof of a skyscraper,” he said. “I really was going for a human evening.”

“Skyscraper or not,” Kyla said, “it seems a bit strange for us to be going out on a date after everything that’s happened. I guess I’m just looking for your prerogative here.”

Nathaniel frowned, thinking it would be nice sometimes if she were slightly less intelligent and didn’t pick up on so much. “I didn’t know how else to do it,” he told her, “…to be alone with you.”

Kyla bit her lip.

“It’s been driving me mad, always having someone else around when we’re together, not being able to look at you the way I want to…to hold you how I need to.”

Kyla looked dizzy now, enough that Nathaniel was concerned with her proximity to the edge of the roof.

Nathaniel went on, too nervous to stop and deal with the silence that would surely follow if he did. “Caleb could see it, how it was getting to me,” he said.

Nathaniel watched the surprise hit Kyla’s face. “Wait…he’s here?” she asked.

Nathaniel wondered if he should have mentioned that, either. “Yes,” he told her. “I had to bring him here to keep him safe from the ones in London who have a hit out on him.”

Kyla was baffled. “Then why are you here with me?” she asked him. “Why aren’t you protecting him?”

Nathaniel didn’t like the accusation. “Tonight was his idea,” he tried to justify himself. “He told me to take you out and sweep you off your feet.”

Kyla laughed a little. “You think he meant that so literally?”

Nathaniel smiled. “Knowing Caleb, probably,” he said. Then his smile began to fade as he thought on the question that had been pulling at him for days. “Kyla, have you ever thought there might be a reason we found each other?”

She gave him a look and studied him, as if remembering the last time he brought this up on the night that he left her. “A reason?” she asked.

Nathaniel shifted a little. “I know I’ve asked you this before, but it’s different now. It’s more…important.”

Kyla didn’t understand.

“I just want to know if you’ve ever questioned it,” he said, “…that it might not be chance?”

Kyla looked away from him. “I don’t believe in that sort of thing,” she said, making a face.

“The same way you don’t believe in angels?” he asked.

“Technically, I’ve never met an angel,” she teased him. “Only a half-angel.”

Nathaniel told her before he could think to stop himself, “I have.”

Kyla looked at him, surprised. “What?”

His face dropped when he realized he’d said that out loud.

“You have what?” Kyla prodded.

Nathaniel winced a little on the inside. “Met an angel,” he confessed.

He really shouldn’t have told her that.

Kyla looked stunned. “Does that happen often with Nephilim?” she asked.

Nathaniel turned to look straight at her. “It never happens with Nephilim.”

She didn’t understand. “What does that mean?” she asked him.

Nathaniel turned away from her again. “I don’t know.”

Kyla swallowed nervously.

“There is a line that has always been distinct before,” he told her, “separating our world from theirs. But lately…since I found you…that line seems to be blurring.”

Kyla was skeptical. “You don’t think the two are connected?” she said.

“I don’t know,” Nathaniel mumbled. “But Aria seems to think so.”

Cautiously, she asked him, “Who is Aria?”

At that point, Nathaniel figured he had nothing to lose in being honest with her. “The angel who claims she brought me to you.”

Kyla looked at him, shocked. She tried to read him and make sense of what he was saying and what something like this could even imply.

“She told me to come back to you,” he said.

Kyla looked like her head was spinning. “If an angel told you to come back here,” she asked, “then why is Seth so determined to keep you away from me?”

Nathaniel kept his gaze fixed in the opposite direction. “Because he doesn’t know about it.”

Kyla didn’t seem to understand. “Why not?” she asked.

“Aria told me not to say anything,” he explained. Then he stopped to think about that and added, “In so many words.”

To say that Kyla was freaking out would be an understatement. She didn’t look like she could wrap her mind around any of this, and she held her hand to her head as if that would somehow help her in the attempt.

“You’re the only one who knows about this, Kyla. Including Caleb.”

She looked surprised by that.

“And you have to understand, Seth is just trying to protect us.”

Nathaniel tried to look assured and confident of what he was saying, but he knew that Kyla could see what he was afraid of.

She made a face, the kind she always made when she was frustrated. “Does he really see me as that much of a threat to you?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said.

Kyla shook her head. “Why? I mean, maybe that should be obvious or something but I don’t get it. You’ve got psychopathic Nephilim out for your blood tracking you down at every turn, witches spanning over multiple continents that are trying to kill you and curse you and God only knows what else…and he’s afraid of me?”

Nathaniel was calm as he answered her again. “Yes.”

Kyla looked at him helplessly, her eyes soft with confusion but hard in the way that told him she was hurt. For someone who came across as being so tough, he had never seen anyone who could be cut deeper by a single word or glance or thought as quickly as she could; or who tried harder to hide it.

“Why?” she asked him again.

Nathaniel hesitated, afraid to look back at her…afraid of what he might say. “Because he knows what you are to me.”

Kyla was taken aback. She blinked a few times and studied him, probably seeing well beyond the words he had spoken, which left Nathaniel feeling transparent in his least favorite way. But before she had time to question him again, something happened that she didn’t expect. Something happened that he didn’t either.

Suddenly, they were not alone on that rooftop anymore.

<> 

Alexa Howell sat in the oversized arm chair in her living room, a typical stance for her to take in a situation like this. The chair was positioned in a way that gave her a clear view of the backyard through the full wall of windows at the prow point of the house. And on a night like tonight when there was so much activity out there, that particular architectural design (chosen by her father when he’d had the home custom built) proved to be invaluable.

Matthew was pacing back and forth in front of her as he went over every detail he remembered of the dream he had woken from that morning. They had been over this already, but Alexa kept asking him to tell her again, and every time he would go back through it, there would be some small facet of it that would come out that he’d forgotten to tell her.

As Matthew explained the dream to her again, Alexa sat there contemplating it, taking it all in. She was very careful to listen to his every word and not quick to take anything at surface value. That wasn’t the way dreams worked. Alexa knew that.

Once Matthew had finished getting the whole dream out to her, he sat on the coffee table in front of her, his elbows on his knees, his hands locked together and his head down. He looked like Caden, the way he sat there waiting for her patiently. Alexa realized it as she watched him just how quickly he had grown up. She hadn’t recognized it before now, probably because she was always right there with him, but even in a matter of weeks, there was something very different about Matthew James. He had been right about that. Whether or not his encounter with Nathaniel Blake had anything to do with it, she wasn’t certain, but she knew she wasn’t sitting in front of the same boy she had known all her life.

And that alone made her curious about the guardians outside.

There were more than there usually were standing between her and those woods tonight, which led her to believe what she already suspected: Something was out there.

It had been bothering her lately, that question that prodded at her mind. Any time she had ever asked Caden about it, he had gotten suspiciously defensive and told her never to go back there. And in all the time he had been doing that, Alexa had never questioned him once. She trusted her older brother’s judgment, submitted to him to a measure that wasn’t normal for an eight-year-old girl. Now she wasn’t so sure she could trust him that blindly anymore. If whatever was out there was important enough for Caden to protect her from, it was probably important enough that she needed to know about it; especially in light of the dream Matthew had just had. But Alexa didn’t need the dream to know that. It simply confirmed what she already felt was out there…and in a much deeper way than she expected it to.  

“Your dream is real,” Alexa told him. “I can prove it.”

Matthew raised his eyebrows. “How do you expect to do that and still listen to Caden?” he asked her.

Alexa’s expression stayed fixed. “Who said anything about listening to Caden?”

A smile crept up on Matthew’s mouth. He had never known Alexa to question anything her brother had ever told her. “I can’t decide if that worries me or I love it,” he admitted to her.  

Alexa’s eyes flashed up to him and she smiled at him back. “I’ve already felt what you dreamed about,” she told him.

Matthew didn’t appear surprised by this at all. “If you need to find out what’s back there,” he told her, “I will go with you.”

<> 

“What do you want?” Caden answered his phone irritated. 

“Get over here,” Trace said. “We’re playing pool.”

Caden debated hanging up, but he knew Trace would only call him back.

“No thanks,” Caden grumbled. “I’m not in the mood.”

Trace didn’t drop it. Caden knew he wouldn’t.

“I didn’t ask,” Trace said. “I told you. Get over here.”

That time, Caden did hang up. He knew Trace would call him back in a matter of seconds and immediately resume his nagging, but that didn’t stop him from making a point. Grumbling to himself as he grabbed his keys and headed out the door, Caden gave in and drove into town to meet them at the pool hall, knowing it was not going to be a pleasant experience.

The last time he had seen Trace was at practice, when he had told the guys about his producer, Dameon Marx, wanting to fly them out to Nashville that weekend for a show they might be able to play after Caden had sent him their demo CD. He had also told them they weren’t going, which didn’t go over quite as well.

Trace was still furious about it, and Zeke was acting furious because Trace was. PJ wasn’t happy, but he at least wasn’t upset enough to act like a little girl about it the way the other two were.  When Caden broke the news, Trace had almost gotten into a fist fight with him he was so mad. The only one who didn’t give him crap about it was Cody. He had backed him up completely, but then, Cody always backed him in everything he did.

Luckily, they had gotten past the rough part of it, but when Caden showed up at the pool hall, he could see that the guys hadn’t gotten over it. He really didn’t want to deal with that. There was a lot he didn’t want to deal with right now.

Picking up a pool cue even though he really didn’t want to play, Caden stood there chalking the end of it and tuned Trace out as he continued to nag him about the whole thing.

“You didn’t even ask us,” Trace said. “That’s some bullcrap right there.”

Caden didn’t care that Trace was upset. He even debated making it worse by telling them Dameon had offered to sit down with them to discuss potential studio time if they did well at the show. Luckily he was able to resist the urge, knowing somewhere in the back of his head that that could only make things worse.

Caden was regretting sending Dameon the demo CD he had just recorded last week of the band. At the time it had seemed like a great idea (kind of like pissing Trace off seemed like a great idea right now) but in retrospect he was starting to think he might have jumped the gun. It wasn’t that Caden didn’t want to move on the opportunity. He was excited that Dameon was so stoked on it and that the demo alone had almost sold him completely. But Caden hadn’t expected him to move on it that quick. And leaving right now was not an option.

“You need to get over it,” Caden said. “It’s not like this was our only shot; it was just too short of notice.”

“Yeah, why’s that?” Trace challenged him. “Because Kyla would be upset?”

Now Caden just wanted to hit him.

“Is this really why you made me come all the way down here?” he asked. “To restart this stupid argument? I thought you wanted to play pool?”

Trace was straight up scowling now. “What I want is for you to get on the phone and tell Dameon you changed your mind.”

“I didn’t change my mind, Trace.”

The look in Trace’s eyes told Caden he’d better get out of there fast before they started something again. It was one thing for the two of them to fight in the McGallagher’s oversized basement. It was another to pull something like that in public.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” Caden mumbled as he set his pool cue on the table. He could not deal with them right now; not like this. Not with everything else that was going on in his life. Trace didn’t have a freaking clue what he was dealing with. None of them did. If any of them had even half an idea what was really going on…

Caden was interrupted from the thought by the dark-haired girl who came through the front door. She walked straight over to him, not even stopping to look at anything around her or to scan the sparse crowd and see where he was. It was like she knew he would be there; not just there at the pool hall, but in that exact spot at that exact time. It was actually kind of creepy.    

“Hey handsome,” Val Linley greeted him with a devilish smile.

She was dressed in a way that his attention was caught immediately, despite that he tried not to let it be. Her low-cut shirt, black fishnet stockings and heeled leather boots didn’t do much to dissuade any man from looking at her right now. Caden really didn’t like that about her, but he liked the fact that it got to him a whole lot less.

He smirked at her a little. “Val,” he said, giving her a polite nod.

“Let me guess?” she offered, leaning up against one of the pool tables that wasn’t in use. “Trace called you over here and you didn’t want to come, but you showed up anyway and  remembered why you didn’t want to the second you stepped through the door.”

Caden mumbled, “Yeah, something like that,” and Val looked at him with a coy smile on her lips.

“And I’ll take a stab at why you feel that way,” she went on. “You’re distressed over little miss James, aren’t you?”

Caden wrinkled his nose and looked down at the top of the pool table. He wanted to deny it so Val wouldn’t pry further, but he realized he had already given himself away, so he went for the truth instead.

“I really shouldn’t talk to you about that,” he said.

Val asked him, “Why not?” and Caden gave her a look. Val rolled her eyes. “I know it’s no secret that Kyla and I are never going to be best friends, but I care about you and I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Caden looked at her, unconvinced.

“You need to back off,” Val told him bluntly. “Kyla is walking all over you, and if you have any self-respect at all, I mean, even one tiny little shred, then you need to distance yourself from her and stop acting like the puppy dog best friend who will always be there for her. You’re an idiot for leaving Nashville for her.”

Caden didn’t like that.

“You’re an idiot for leaving Nashville for her,” Val said. “I heard about the opportunity your producer wanted to give your band…”

Caden shot Trace a glare when she said it, and Trace gave him a smirk and blew him a kiss in response. Caden could have hit him.   

“You really shouldn’t have passed up an opportunity like what you had going for you out there,” Val said.

“I didn’t pass it up,” Caden argued. “I just took a break.”

Val scowled and looked away from him. “She never would have done the same for you,” she said. “I really don’t get why you’re so hung up on her.”

Caden denied it. “Kyla’s my best friend,” he insisted.

“Gee, that doesn’t sound familiar,” Val mumbled sarcastically.

He wasn’t sure what she meant by that.

“Kyla may be dense enough to believe that, but I’m not,” Val told him.

“What do you want me to say?” Caden asked her.

“I just don’t know why you torture yourself,” Val said. “I mean, the whole relationship is completely unbalanced. Kyla never even mentions you when we’re at work. All she can ever talk about is Nathaniel Blake. I swear she’s obsessed with him.”

That made Caden tense up. Val had definitely pushed a button with that one.

“Don’t let her play you, Caden,” she told him.

He tried to throw her words out, but they really got to him…this time more than they usually did.

“She’s just using you,” Val added. “You know that, right? The next time Nathaniel hurts her or leaves her, she’s gonna come crawling back to you asking for help.”

Caden wouldn’t look at her.

“Don’t give into her,” Val told him. “You’re better than that and you need to start acting like it.

Caden was starting to feel legitimately sick. “I have to go,” he said.

Val moved closer to him and put her hand on his arm. “Don’t,” she said. “Stay. Kyla’s out enjoying herself tonight; why shouldn’t you do the same?”

Caden eyed her questioningly.

“Nathaniel came by work tonight,” she explained. “Full-on debonair, red rose and all. She’s with him right now, and I guarantee she’s not thinking about you.”

Caden jerked away from her hand, his eyes slanted and his jaw tight. Whatever Val was aiming for with him right now, he was not going to give it to her. “I really have to go,” he said.

He turned to leave, not seeing the way she grinned as soon as his back was turned to her.