Heven took off again and made it to Gemma’s side, reaching down to pick up her sword.
Gemma arched a single eyebrow at me. I was already calling forth the strength I would need to launch myself in between them again.
Heven, get away from her.
“Lose the box,” Heven threatened Gemma, not even looking at me.
That sword was probably a lot heavier than it looked and I wondered if Heven had the strength to swing it.
I couldn’t take that chance. With a final burst of speed and adrenaline, I rushed Gemma.
Take the sword and head toward the truck, Heven! Now!
Gemma held up her hands in surrender. Heven, who once again did not listen to me, reached out and grabbed the box from her hands. Gemma said nothing as Heven slammed the lid closed and tossed the thing into the trees.
Relief surged through me and I was suddenly unbound. My body seemed to swell within seconds and I felt the hound in me roar—a sound that I liked. The next thing I knew, I was completely shifted and completely willing to murder.
Get back.
I told Heven. So help me if she didn’t listen this time…
She listened and ran backward, putting some distance between us.
I took Gemma down and we rolled across the grass. She was pinned beneath me when I raised my lethal, sharp claws above her.
“I think I proved my point,” Gemma said, gasping for breath. “Get off me.”
I paused.
“If you kill me you’ll never know what just happened.”
Damn. She had a point. I hated that she had a point.
Don’t hurt her, Sam,
Heven pleaded.
I shoved off her and growled. She stayed down on the ground as I prowled toward the truck, never once giving Gemma a backward glance. When I reached the truck, Heven was there, holding out a pair of shorts. I took them in my mouth and went behind the truck. Moments later, dressed hastily, I came around to see Gemma coming out of the woods, tucking that box back into the pouch at her waist.
She tensed a little when she saw us walking toward her. “How pissed are you still?” she asked me, her hand hovering over her belt where there was a dagger.
“Seriously?” Heven exclaimed. “You approach us; you claim to want to help us. Then you do something to Sam and now you’re reaching for another weapon? I don’t think we want your help. Thanks.” She turned to walk away.
I was proud of her.
“I’m not the only one with one of these. Don’t you think that he needs to know how to fight when being blocked from shifting?”
Damn.
Heven stopped and turned. “No more games.”
“I was only trying to show you,” Gemma began.
Heven cut her off to say, “No. More. Games.”
“Tougher than you look,” Gemma admired.
“You might have that thing strapped to you right now, but if you piss me off again you won’t even be able to reach for that thing the next time you need it.”
“Agreed,” Gemma said and she stuck out her hand.
Heven stepped out to take it and I caught her arm and towed her back. Heven wasn’t making any deals. Especially with people I wasn’t sure I could trust. With Gemma’s hand suspended, I glanced at it and back to her.
“I’m not agreeing to anything until you tell me what the hell you just did.”
“As a hellhound you have very few weaknesses,” Gemma began and I snorted.
“We don’t have any.”
Gemma lifted an eyebrow. “You can say that after what just happened?”
Well, damn. Wasn’t that like a bucket of cold water dumped over my head? I hated to admit it (and I probably wouldn’t out loud), but she had a point.
“Just cut to the chase,” I said suddenly, feeling weary. This day was only half over and yet it felt like it had dragged on for an eternity.
“Before hellhounds were cast out of Hell, Satan tried a few ways to control them. He went to Hecate, Queen of Witches, and asked her to create three amulets to bind their powers, making it harder for them to fight. As you just experienced, a hound is more vulnerable when it is trying to shift and cannot. You are very strong and have much fighting ability in your hellhound form but not as much as in your human form. I am sure that whenever a demon attacks you always shift to defeat him. Is that right?”
“Yeah.”
“Except for that day in the ice cream shop,” Heven reminded me. “When Cole was there.”
“Who is Cole?” Gemma asked.
“A friend of ours. He walked in one day when a demon was attacking me,” Heven answered.
Gemma nodded. “Does he know, then?”
“No,” I said, finality ringing in my ears. I did not want Cole involved in Heven’s life any more than necessary. I didn’t want him around; then I wouldn’t feel like I had to protect him too when he did something stupid and tried to play hero. I might not like him, but Heven would be crushed if something happened to the guy, and I didn’t want her to get hurt. I really wished I knew what the heck she saw in him.
“I’ve been avoiding him,” Heven said, and a wave of guilt came over me. I already knew she felt guilty about avoiding Cole, so I did my best to ignore it and not let her feelings get to me.
Gemma nodded and backed up to a tree and slid down until she was sitting, half-leaning against the trunk. Heven seemed grateful and sank down into the grass too, tucking her legs beneath her.
I did a scan of Heven’s features. She was still pale and her lips still didn’t have enough color in them for my liking. My throat still held an echo of pain, so I knew hers had to be hurting. We needed to get this conversation over with because she needed to get home to rest. I sat down next to her, our knees bumping together. She smiled at me and I ran my hand down her back.
“Hecate created three amulets that would keep a hound from shifting, keeping him vulnerable so he can be hurt or killed.”
Gemma’s words caused panic to well up in Heven’s chest; I felt it like it was my own.
No one’s going to kill me, Heven.
“Where are these amulets?” Heven asked, obviously doubting my statement. “Can we get them?”
Gemma shrugged. “I’m not sure where the other two are. Probably still in Hell.”
“How’d you get one?” I asked her, curious.
“I killed the guy who had it.” Once more something shifted behind her eyes, but I let it go. Her past wasn’t relevant to this conversation. Yet.
“Is that what we would have to do to get the other ones?” Heven asked.
“Probably. But since you’re a little busy to be off hunting down amulets, I think it’s a better idea that you learn how to fight and defend yourself better in human form.” Gemma looked at me as she spoke.
“I fended you off, didn’t I?” I lifted an eyebrow.
“We were well matched.” Gemma allowed and I scoffed. “But we both know that eventually I would have worn you down. And the minute I opened the box with the amulet inside it, you weakened because your body was trying to shift and it couldn’t.”
She kept having to bring up that damn box didn’t she—reminding me of my weakness.
“What would happen to her,” Gemma said, hitching her chin at Heven, “if you had been taken down or out?”
Inwardly, I groaned. Point taken. Now wasn’t the time to be full of myself. Gemma knew exactly which buttons to push.
“All right, I’ll train with you.
Gemma nodded once. “We’ll start tomorrow.”
“Where do you want me to meet you?”
She thought a moment. “How about at the farm?”
“My Gran’s house?” Heven asked, surprised that Gemma knew of the place. I wasn’t surprised at all. If she had been around since she sold me Heven’s bracelet, then she had been watching us. She knew a lot—probably more than we even did.
“Sure, there’s a lot of land there. How about in the woods off the trail where Heven rides Jasper? There’s a clearing a little way in.”
“I know the place,” I agreed. “I’ll meet you there tomorrow before I go to work, but after I do the chores around the farm.”
Heven frowned, but she didn’t say anything. Gemma pushed away from the tree, standing up, clearly ready to end our meeting. I stood up too, equally ready to get out of here. Automatically, I scanned the woods and then looked back over the lake, looking for any strange movements in the water. Everything seemed fine.
For now.
“Wait,” I said, wanting the answer to one more question. “You knew who I was back then, who Heven was. You knew that the bracelet had the key to open the scroll.”
Gemma waited for me to continue.
“Why didn’t you just give it to me? Why didn’t you tell me all this then?”
“Would you have believed me?” She didn’t wait for him to answer before saying, “You know you wouldn’t have. You had to learn about this for yourselves. Besides, I wasn’t sure you’d manage to stay alive this long.” She shrugged and began walking away only to turn back and look at me. “Besides, the fact that you paid for the bracelet really makes it a gift.”
We both watched as she took a few more steps before disappearing completely from sight.
Chapter Seven
Heven
There was one good thing to come out of almost drowning: time alone with Sam. The day was only half over when we left the lake and our meeting with Gemma behind. The undercurrents in the truck were heavy as we were both still pretty shaken up from my near-death experience and from meeting a fallen warrior angel. I wasn’t sure how I felt about all of it. Finding out there were three amulets out there that someone could use against Sam was terrifying. The thought of anyone hurting him made me crazy. Then there was Gemma herself. She was gorgeous and strong, and I couldn’t help but be drawn to her. I was curious about her, her past, and the shadows that sometimes seemed to pass behind her eyes. I found myself actually hoping she wasn’t crazy and that we might become friends. When Sam turned onto the dirt road that led to Gran’s, I glanced over at him. He appeared calm, his face smooth and a pair of sunglasses shading his eyes. But I knew that he was still upset about earlier—I could feel it. I ran my thumb over the knuckles of his hand that I was holding and he glanced at me, giving my hand a light squeeze.
When he parked the truck in his usual spot beneath a large tree, I turned to him. “Can you come in before you go to work? I’ll make you a sandwich.”
He nodded, and instead of releasing my hand, he got out and pulled me along with him, lifting me out of the driver’s side door. Inside, Gran was nowhere to be seen and I was glad because I knew that I wasn’t looking my best. I left Sam in the kitchen to race upstairs and survey the damage. The worst thing was my hair. It was half dry, frizzing and hanging in scraggly clumps. I grabbed a comb, some leave-in conditioner and got to work. As I combed, I studied the rest of me: my skin was paler than usual, my lips colorless, but otherwise I looked normal. Finished with the comb, I pulled my hair back into a short ponytail and hurried to throw on a pair of jean shorts and a white tank, and then feeling a little chilly, I grabbed a light sweater and threw that on over my tank. Before going back downstairs, I swept on a little pink lip balm, hoping to infuse my face with some much needed color.
Sam was still in the kitchen, staring out the window. When I entered the room, he turned, his hazel eyes sweeping me from head to toe. He said nothing, but pulled me into his arms and held me tightly before releasing me to sit at the table, positioning himself near the door and the window. He wasn’t as carefree as this morning. In fact, this morning seemed eons ago.
I went to the fridge and pulled out the makings for roast beef sammies, noting the package of ground beef and package of hotdogs chilling in the fridge. Looks like Gran planned to grill out tonight. I made a mental note to make up a few plates to take to Sam at work and to Logan at home. Then I had a thought. “Sam? Would it be okay if I went and got Logan while you were at work this evening? We’re cooking out and he could have dinner with me and Gran.”
Sam glanced at me from the window, his eyes turned to liquid honey, mesmerizing me. “You would do that?” He didn’t seem surprised but… touched.
“Of course. I don’t like to think of Logan alone so much.” If he had as many mixed-up feelings as I figured, being alone all the time wouldn’t help. Besides, being around Gran would be good for him and maybe he and I could start getting along better, i.e. he wouldn’t make me so uncomfortable all the time.
“Thank you,” he said, getting up and coming over to where I was slapping some mayo on bread. “But I’m not going to work tonight.” He grabbed up a slice of roast beef and shoved the whole thing in his mouth.
“You’re not?” I stared at him as he chewed. “I thought you had a shift at the gym?”
“I called in sick while you were upstairs.”
“Are you not feeling well?” I dropped the knife and turned, placing my hands on his face and forehead. “This is all Gemma and that stupid amulet’s fault.”
His mouth kicked up in a crooked smile. “I’m fine. It’s you that almost drowned. I’m not leaving you alone today.”
My hands fell to my sides. “You’re skipping work for me?”
“I won’t be able to concentrate anyway.” He grabbed up the sandwich and took a huge bite. He groaned in appreciation. I couldn’t blame him. I made a good sandwich.
I couldn’t say that I was sorry he was skipping work. I would get to spend an entire day with him—something that had only happened once or twice since we met. I was sorry, though, that the reason was because he was afraid for my life. “Maybe Gemma could teach me to fight too.”
He paused in chewing to look down at me. “No.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s a good idea. Then I would be able to take care of myself. You wouldn’t have to do it.”
“It’s my job.” He shoved yet another insanely huge bite into his mouth. He was going to have that sandwich gone in like three bites. I shook my head and began to make him another one.
I knew that Sam loved me. I felt it every day but how much of his love came from responsibility? How long before he tired of me and all the trouble I caused him? “I’ll ask her tomorrow.” I went back to finishing the sandwiches.
“You’ll get hurt. Gemma’s tough. The answer is no.”