Second Nature (19 page)

THE WAIT WHILE we tracked down Leslie seemed
endless. After five days, we were all going stir crazy. True to his
word, Nathanial gave me space and it didn’t take long for us to be
in a comfortable place. He and Xander fell back into their old
patterns, and it seemed like our family was back together. Russell
spent a lot of time at our house, and it wasn’t long before Sariah
flashed some bling on a significant finger. Good news was exactly
what we needed. She bought about a billion bride magazines, and we
started to plan a rather extravagant fall wedding.

It was good to see there was such a thing as
a functional relationship for the Otherworldly. Sariah and Russell
were so sweet together. They snuggled, held hands and were just
plain adorable. Russell moved in with us as well. I asked Sariah
how it worked if he was immune to most Otherworld powers she
smiled.

“Not mine, but we found out by accident. He
said worrying about me being with other men was like me worrying
about him eating dinner with other women.” She shrugged and I shook
my head. Why was it half the time I learned something about my
siblings, I wished I could unlearn it?

I sat in my garden with a book, basking in
the power of the summer sun nurturing the plants around me, when
footsteps made me look up. The sight of Dylan’s face made my heart
speed up. I had no idea what to say to him. I was a horrible
person. Getting caught up with him hadn’t been part of the plan,
and I hated toying with his emotions. I definitely had feelings for
him, but I also had feelings for Nate. And I wasn’t ready to make a
decision on either of them. Even if I did decide to be with Dylan
over Nate, I didn’t want to rush into another man’s arms.

“I hadn’t heard from you in a few days, and
I was kind of worried.” He tucked his hands in his pockets, eyeing
me from a distance.

“Yeah, sorry, things went a little crazy. We
were working on the whole drug thing and then a bad ass Librarian
caught us and tried to hand us to an evil witch with a grudge.” I
shrugged.

“Sounds like quite a week.” He tilted his
head, and we watched each other for a moment. “I see Nate is
back.”

I bit my lip and dropped my eyes, too
ashamed to look at him. “Yeah, we had him move in so we can keep an
eye on him. They were torturing him to hurt me.”

Dylan stepped closer, and I turned my head,
eyeing the orchard across the lawn. His hand gently gripped my
chin, but I refused to let him turn my head. “Please look at me,
Sprout.” The waiver in his voice made me meet his grey-green eyes,
which were brimming with moisture. “I need to know what’s going on
in that head of yours.”

I smiled, but it was a little weak. “So do
I.” I was no closer to an answer than I had been a few days
earlier.

“Is it because of what I said, how I think
I’m falling for you?”

“No. Yes—I don’t know.” I sighed and tried
to let the turmoil and confusion show. “I’m so confused I don’t
even know my own mind anymore. I
do
have feelings for you,
Dylan, but I also have feelings for Nate. And even if I didn’t, I
don’t want to rush from one man to another. I don’t want to hurt
you, it’s the last things I want to do. There isn’t a way to keep
everyone from getting hurt.”

He studied me for a long time. “So what
exactly are you trying to tell me?”

“I’m trying to tell you I need time. I need
to deal with what’s in front of me, and then I can figure out
what’s in my heart. There’s never been any time for me to figure
out the woman I want to be. My whole life, I’ve defined myself by
my relationships to others. I found strength last year, but now I
need to figure out what that means.”

“It makes sense. You’ve been through so
much, and I don’t want to add to your troubles. Don't feel held
back by my feelings for you, Amelia. Do what's right for you and
I'll be fine.”

“Stop being so sweet and making this
harder.”

“Can I still see you? I promise to keep it
strictly platonic.”

I sighed. I couldn’t tell him no. Since Nate
was here, I supposed it was only fair to let Dylan visit. “If you
make a play while I’m still working things out, I’ll kick you
out.”

His smile lit up his face, and his angel
aura glowed bright. I couldn’t help but smile too.

“Listen Dylan, I don’t know what’s going to
happen, but I have a feeling pretty soon things are going to get
crazy. You should probably keep your distance so you don’t get
caught in the crossfire.”

“I’m not going to abandon you, so give it
up. I’ve never felt more like I’m serving my purpose than when I’m
helping you and your family. If that puts me in danger, I’m ready
for it.”

“I don’t think you understand. I’m not
talking about a single witch with a grudge. This whole Diesel
thing, it’s big. Bigger than me and my small circle. And I don’t
want anyone to get hurt. We were forced into this when they took
Xander. It doesn’t seem like a coincidence that all of this is
forming around us. My family goes against the natural order of the
Otherworld, I know, but I don’t care. This is who we are, take it
or leave it.”

“Do you have any idea how hot you are when
you’re fierce? In a strictly platonic way of course.” He gave me a
wink.

I shook my head at him. Part of me wanted to
stomp off in a snit but another wouldn’t let me. Instead, I stared
at him while he flashed a smile.

“Stop trying to chase me off. It’s not going
to work. Now, do you have a guest bedroom or am I sleeping on the
couch? If you try to throw me out, I’ll sleep on the doormat.”

Rolling my eyes, I led the way towards the
house without saying anything. Dylan trailed after me, his brows
raised in curiosity. “I’m not the only one living here.” I glanced
at him over my shoulder. “This isn’t my decision alone. You wanna
be part of this family—you gotta get the approval of the
whole
family.”

Dylan nodded, but he looked a little green
around the gills. I led him to the kitchen and sat him at the
table. I gathered the others, who were scattered around the house.
Once they were all seated, I explained that Dylan wanted to be part
of the fight, then stood back and let them work it out.

Xander gave him a hard look and let go
enough for the blue flames in his eyes to whirl. Dylan met the
disconcerting glare with a blank expression, which made me respect
him a little more.

“An angel wants to help demons?” Russell
eyes flicked back and forth back between Dylan and Xander.
“Why?”

“First off, I care about Lia, and I want to
stand with her and anyone else who has her back. Secondly, these
guys aren’t your average run of the mill demons, now are they? And
finally, the division of the Otherworld is stupid. The only reason
we are ‘opposites’ is because of stupid grudges from thousands of
years before any of us were born. Why are we still embracing
them?”

“Good enough for me.” Russell shrugged, his
dark eyes meeting mine with a slight nod.

“You saved, Amelia. If you hadn’t come the
night she was shot, she would have died. And you had no reason to
trust me when I told you who I was.”

“You know it’s not exactly tough to get in a
car with a pretty blond, right?” Xander wasn’t convinced. I figured
he would be the toughest of all of them to convince. “What exactly
do you bring to the table, Dylan?”

“Well aside from good looks and charm.” He
flashed a smile, and I winced. Humor was not the best approach with
my brother at the moment. “I can be anywhere in a flash of light,
so if something happens and someone isn’t there, they can be. If we
need to get Amelia out of somewhere, I can do that too. I can heal
without draining the earth. And I’m working on other ways of
manipulating my holy light.”

“I know he’s saved your life, Lia, but can
we trust him? I mean, we trusted someone once before, and it didn’t
turn out so well.”

I dropped my eyes to study my toes. I know
Xander hadn’t been trying to hurt me, but if I hadn’t insisted on
rescuing Evelyn, our parents might still be alive. And we had all
trusted the Matthews for years while they were secretly destroying
our kind. I didn’t say anything. This was their decision. I would
agree with whatever they decided.

Xander eyed him speculatively for a long
time. “Can you throw a punch?”

“I didn’t do so bad against
him
,” he
said with a nod of his head towards Nate, who bristled a bit but
calmed himself.

“Yeah, dude, I’m sorry about that. You
didn’t deserve it.”

“You mean you’re sorry for being a jealous
jerk?” Dylan’s eyebrows shot up.

“No, it means I’m sorry I clocked you in the
jaw.” He met my eyes and spoke directly to me, but I had no doubt
who it was intended for. “I’ll fight for her as long as there is
something for me to fight for.” He turned back to Dylan and
extended his hand. “But no matter what my personal feelings are, I
welcome anyone willing to help us protect her. The rest we can sort
out later.”

Dylan took his hand, and they shook while
eyeing each other in a way that made me wonder if they were
squeezing. I sighed loudly and rolled my eyes, making them both
drop their hands to the table.

“See, now this could be a problem.” Sariah’s
mouth twisted with disapproval. “If you two are going to be
circling each other like two roosters, I want no part of it. This
is above your rivalry for Amelia. If at any point either of you
puts one of us—especially Lia—in any kind of danger, you’re
out.”

“I don’t know, do we really need him?”
Xander’s eyes were on Sariah. “I mean, we’ve done fine so far. Is
it worth screwing up what we got now for another gun in the
battle?”

“I think his ability to teleport could be
handy. And Lia does obviously trust him or she wouldn’t have
brought it to us. I think he’s worth a shot. Besides, he’s not hard
on the eyes.”

Russell made an offended noise and looked at
her with wide eyes. “You know I can hear you, right?”

She smiled and patted his knee. “Got to keep
you on your toes, don’t I?”

All eyes turned to Xander, the only one who
had yet to give approval—and probably the most important vote. He
glanced at me, and I met his eyes with what I hoped was a
completely blank expression. I wanted this to his decision. He
cocked his head at me in impatience, clearly wanting more, but I
shrugged. He frowned, then turned back to Dylan.

“Tell you what, let’s go down to the
training room in the basement. If you can hold your own against me
in a fight, you’re in.”

I shook my head as they headed downstairs.
Boys will be boys. After Dylan bested Xander three out of five
rounds, he left to go get his things.

DYLAN MOVED INTO one of the guest bedrooms.
He and Xander bonded quickly, and he got on well with Russell, but
every time he and Nate were in a room together, testosterone filled
the air. To say things were tense would be putting it mildly.

Sariah began a quiet search for a witch we
could trust while Russell searched his texts, and Xander searched
the town looking for either Peter or Leslie. Dylan volunteered to
stay in the house so if there was any trouble, he could fetch the
others or get Nate and I to safety. I think it was more a case of
he didn’t want Nate and me to spend much time alone together, but I
kept my opinions to myself.

I cornered Xander in the kitchen one day as
he got back from another fruitless day of searching. “I thought we
weren’t leaving the house?”

“Yeah, well, when we said that, what we
meant was—”

“I know.” I interrupted him, crossing my
arms under my breasts. “It meant Nate and I shouldn’t leave the
house.”

Xander shrugged and nodded. “Trouble does
start when you leave the house.”

“I’d like to note, in my defense, Nate was
almost here when the trouble started. And who rescued whom from
blood draining?”

Xander grinned and shrugged. “I was testing
you.” I rolled my eyes at him, and he laughed, but the sounds of
Nate and Dylan playing a basketball interrupted my thoughts. “What
are
you going to do about Frick and Frack?”

I turned to watch them play from the kitchen
window. Both wore basketball shorts and no shirts. Nate was tall
and slim, toned and fit but not overly sculpted. Height wise, Dylan
was at least four inches taller with a sturdier, more muscular
frame. The angel stood at the edge of the court dribbling, but he
rushed forward in a fluid motion. Not to be outdone Nate met his
rush with a full body check, knocking both men to the ground. They
got up and stood toe to toe, ball forgotten as it bounced off into
the bushes. Shaking my head, I turned back to my brother. “Frankly,
I’d like to knock their heads together and send them both packing.
I asked them to give me space, and they’re respecting my request,
but if they don’t stop going after each other, I’m going to show
them how well you taught me to fight.”