Authors: Jamie Begley
She had to get away from Jericho. Cara felt in her mortal bones how badly he could hurt her; what he had just done was merely a small taste of it. He had rejected her for another woman. Her pride stung and she simply wanted to go home to her mother. Her mother would protect her and make sure no overbearing man would dare treat her daughter in such a manner.
“I would if I could, but you know I can’t. It’s not your time. Besides, you know that if I took you, it wouldn’t be home that I would have to take you to.”
Cara nodded. Suddenly fear filled her gorgeous face. “You’re not here to…?” She glanced in fear at Jericho. An evil smiled curled Grimm’s lips at her look.
“Nope, not him either. I’m on a layover you might say. I have a little time and thought I would find something to amuse myself with.” Cara felt sorry for this amusement. Grimm would be like a tiger amusing itself with a small mouse. Tormenting it to death. Death and Grimm were always a foregone conclusion.
Jericho sat stiffly next to the man who Cara had called Grimm. He wanted answers, and this man looked like anything other than a loony. Perhaps Cara wasn’t mentally ill, but part of a scam with this stranger. As if the man could read his thoughts, he turned to give Jericho his full attention.
“My little friend has been remiss in her introductions. Allow me. I am Grimm and you are Jericho Hawk.” When Jericho stared into the man’s black eyes, he felt as if his soul literally shrunk back inside himself. Hiding. Jericho tried to shrug the analogy away, yet was unable to stop himself. The man put out a coldness that actually made you shiver. Jericho didn’t look away. He had faced and survived worse monsters than this man. The problem was, Jericho inexplicably was beginning to believe that this Grimm was no ordinary man. It was hard to miss the reactions of the other patrons when everyone was staring at your table. “I hope you have been taking good care of her.” Threats glittered in the dark gaze staring at him.
Grimm’s eyes looked at Cara’s bandaged hands and darkened further.
Cara jumped in quickly. “It was my fault; I wasn’t careful.”
“You must be more careful, Cara. If anything happened to you, my anger would not be pleasant.” Grimm turned once again to Jericho, making sure the other man got his message.
Jericho had had enough of the man’s threats. “I’m glad you’re here.” Smirking to himself at Grimm’s surprised look. Jericho was sure it didn’t happen often. “You can take Cara off my hands and see that she is taken care of. After all, you two are obviously close.” Innuendo heavily laced his voice, leaving no doubt at what he thought their true relationship was. Jericho really didn’t care who they were fucking, though.
He’d had enough. He tried to push the man so that he could slide out of the booth and leave the two alone while he waited for Tammy in his truck until she got off work. Suddenly, he fell back in his seat and Grimm hadn’t even moved. Fury emitted from the man’s expression. Jericho no longer felt the coldness the man put out; instead, red-hot heat surged through his body.
“Grimm!” Jericho dimly heard Cara’s scream, but he was unable to look away from the deadly black eyes.
Visions exploded within his skull. Cara standing on a balcony, staring into a dark sky. He felt the loneliness and sadness she felt. Then other visions flew through his mind. Her standing in a corner watching a party of individuals. Many of the women were dressed in flowing gowns and the men dressed as warriors. Instantly, Jericho knew who each person was as if he had known them for years, and realized he was reading Cara’s mind at the moment of the party. Envy of the other women’s obvious sexuality, and painfully shy when an immortal dared to talk to her under her mother’s watchful glare.
Cara hid a deep-rooted fear that she would never be able to match the greatness of her mother and aunt. Then everything in his mind dimmed as if he was in a dark tunnel. He heard women’s screams of terror and choking fear for her sisters’ safety. Flashes of light allowed Jericho to see Cara struggle to watch the doorways her sisters went through before she allowed herself to find an exit, putting her own life at risk.
Jericho was stunned when he felt the seat once again beneath him. He didn’t know how the man had done it, but he knew that he could no longer argue against Cara’s story; he had seen it all. She was what she had said. Someone had tried to kill her and they had almost succeeded. Now she was left stripped of her powers.
“What did you do?” Cara questioned anxiously, well aware of Grimm’s powers.
“Took away his doubts. He now knows that you speak the truth.”
“You shouldn’t have done that. You could be punished.”
Grimm shrugged. “Who would dare punish me?” Cara knew he was right. He could take a mortal or immortal soul with a touch. It was a power he exerted with effortless ease.
“Why?”
“I owed you one.” Cara understood what he was saying. Often they had argued over souls. She had felt circumstances should have been taken into account when determining a soul’s destination. Grimm had not; he had only been interested in the end result. Cara had believed that a single transgression regretted and mourned over shouldn’t lead to Grimm, yet he more often than not had won and she had lost numerous souls to him.
“If you’re done, now will you two please leave?”
Grimm didn’t take his attention away from Cara. “He’s really making me angry, sweetheart.”
“Jericho.” Cara thought to warn him, but it was too late.
Grimm moved with lightning speed, grabbing Jericho’s wrist and holding it in a brutal grip he was unable to break in the small confines of the booth. In the same instant, he took Cara’s hand.
Memories flooded her mind. Jericho as a small child neglected and left alone by an uncaring mother, foster homes until he had ended up with a woman he had thought of as a monster, but she was more than that. She had been one of such malicious evil that Cara, for all her centuries of seeing souls, had rarely seen. She had been given the care of a small child who had never known love or affection, and had tried to destroy what humanity he had left. He had been both mentally and physically abused to such an extent that Cara tried to shake her hand free from Grimm’s grip, unable to bear seeing the torture he had been forced to endure for years.
Grimm refused to relinquish her hand, forcing her to see and feel everything that Jericho had borne for years at the evil woman’s hands. When he was finally old enough to escape the woman, she had been unable to handle not having her toy to torture and had tried to regain her power over him. It had led to her death by his hands. He had even been imprisoned for the murder until it had finally been proved to be self-defense. Cara saw the years he spent alone, knowing his soul had been scarred beyond repair.
Cara swallowed back the tears. A child learnt love from his caretakers and then would be able to share that love with others. Jericho had never learnt to love. Everyone had failed the child, and the man had paid the price.
Grimm released their hands.
“What did you do?” Jericho angrily questioned him.
“Merely gave Cara a heads-up.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that you shouldn’t make me angry.” He turned and gave Jericho a smile of intent just as Tammy came to the table with their order. The poor woman couldn’t stop shaking as she placed their plates before them.
“Can I get you something?” The woman’s tone suggested he could have anything he wanted.
“Well, now, what are you offering, sweetness?” Seduction poured from Grimm’s voice.
Tammy didn’t beat around the bush. “Me.”
Cara thought the woman would rip her clothes off then and there. If her nipples got any larger, they were going to burst through her uniform.
Grimm smiled seductively at the lust-crazed woman. “Well, I could use a place to stay since I’m trapped here with the roads closed.”
“I have a place close by, you could stay with me.” Grimm smiled even wider, showing his pearly whites. “I was supposed to meet Jericho, but I would rather have you,” Tammy confessed guiltily.
“What time do you get off?” Grimm’s predatory smile widened.
“Give me a minute, I’ll be right back.” She turned away, but then hesitated, turning back to Grimm. “I will have to make up an excuse to my boss.” At his nod of approval, Tammy rushed off.
“That was bad, Grimm.”
“That’s one of the perks of my job,” he said unrepentant then gave Jericho his attention once more. “My little friend will be returning home with you, and I expect you to take better care of her than you have been.” He reached out and touched each of Cara’s hands, which were lying on the table, with a brief touch. Instantly, she felt the soreness leaving.
“Thanks.” Cara was thanking him for more than healing her hands. She was thanking him for letting her get to know Jericho in ways it would have taken years for a mortal to know, if ever, because Jericho would never have told. Most of all, she was thanking him for getting the horny waitress away from Jericho.
“Happy to oblige.” Grimm slid out of the booth when Tammy returned. When she leaned into his body, he placed an arm around her hip to draw her against his side while smiling wickedly.
“I stole twenty dollars from the cash register last week,” Tammy confessed suddenly.
“Did you? Then you must replace it your next payday, shouldn’t you?” Grimm caressed her hip, staring deep into her eyes.
“Yes, that’s a good idea. I will replace it when I get paid.” Tammy closed dazed eyes when Grimm pulled her even closer in approval.
Jericho thought Tammy would climax from the gesture, disgusted with the turn of events. He didn’t care about losing Tammy for the sex, what he did care about was getting rid of Cara.
“Now that I know she has relatives to take care of her, why should I take her back to my cabin? You can collect her when you’ve finished with her.” He gave a curt nod in Tammy’s direction.
“Well, that may take some time, and we don’t want Cara sitting here all alone, do we? After all, the enemies who are responsible for her vacation are looking for her.”
Cara stiffened, afraid not for herself, but for her sisters. If their unknown enemy was looking for her, it only made sense they would be searching for her sisters also.
“Besides, I would hate to make a phone call back to the Sheriff in Hardin to let him know that you’ve been with the woman he’s been searching for. I don’t know how these things work, but he might put you in jail for interfering with police business.”
Jericho knew when he was beat. He was stuck with her until the road opened and he could get her a room at the inn. How long could it take? A day at the most. Jericho was man enough to admit when he was outmaneuvered. However he simply couldn’t let Grimm leave without one final shot.
“When we meet again, I won’t be stuffed into a booth, unable to move,” Jericho threatened the last man he would ever want to make angry. Cara cast Grimm an imploring look not to hurt him.
Grimm turned back with the woman who was now whimpering with desire in his arms. He stroked her cheek. ”Just a few more minutes, kitten.” He turned his black eyes to Jericho. “The next time we meet, I won’t be there to protect Cara; it will be because I’m doing my job.” He hesitated long enough until he knew Jericho understood his deadly message. When Jericho met Grimm again, it would be because he would be there for his soul. Grimm couldn’t resist a taunting grin before he led the now panting waitress out of the restaurant.
Jericho turned backed to his now cold food. “Eat. I know you’re hungry.” Cara didn’t say anything, afraid he would leave her behind. He was furious with Grimm and Cara couldn’t blame him. In all fairness, he had seen that she was taken care of and she had repaid him by letting Grimm treat him abominably. He had broken into the privacy of his past, taken his woman and had threatened him in a roundabout way with Hell.
“I’ll get him. He can help me find a place to stay.” Cara started to rise from the booth and go after Grimm. She only hoped she could catch him before he got busy with Tammy.
“Sit down.” His harsh voice stopped her and she sat back down. “Eat.” Then his voice softened. “When you’re finished, we’ll head home.”
Cara nodded and dropped her head, shoving a forkful of food past the lump in her throat when he had said they would go home. Cara knew he hadn’t meant it the way she had taken it to mean, however she felt the warmth spread to her now human heart.
Chapter Eight
The ride back to the cabin didn’t take long. When they entered the cabin, Cara expected Jericho to leave her to her own devices, but she was pleasantly surprised.
“Would you like to watch some television?”
“Yes, thank you.” They settled on the couch and Jericho used a small remote to change the machine on the wall. Cara was fascinated as the glass-front machine changed pictures.
“What kind of shows do you like?”
“I don’t know.”
Jericho laughed at her. “I guess you don’t have television where you’re from.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Then you’re in for a real treat.” The pictures changed several more times before it stopped. Cara watched as two women talked then started eating something really fast.
“This is called reality television. Real people do things and people watch them at home.” They watched for several minutes until the program went off then Jericho turned the pictures again until another show appeared. “This is called a comedy.” It didn’t take long before her soft laughter filled the small cabin.
“Would you like a beer?”
“Yes.” Her throat did feel dry.
Jericho got up from the couch while Cara kept her eyes on the screen, trying not to notice how his faded jeans emphasized his well-shaped ass.
“Here you are; ice cold.”
“Thank you.” Cara took a small drink from the cold bottle. She knew she had discovered her second favorite thing about being human. It tasted slightly like ale, but a much weaker version. She could never stand the taste of the strong brew, but this was like a paler version and the coldness only accented its wonderful taste.
“Pretzel?” Cara took one of what looked like sticks, though it tasted crunchy and salty.