The REASON Series - the Complete Collection (55 page)

Riley’s body is still ringing with pain and he doesn’t respond.
 

“I can’t think of any good reason not to destroy you right this second. I do not ask questions twice.”
 

The stabbing pain returns once again. Riley screams out a garbled “Yes!” and nods his head. Immediately the pressure stops. His bonds loosen and he drops to the floor.
 

“Get yourself together. You’re leaving soon.”

Suddenly Riley is the only one in the room. He gropes with his hands, making sure that his balls are still intact, and then he removes his blindfold and gag. “One day,” he mutters, “you’re going to be sorry you did that.”

If the devil hears him, he doesn’t bother to respond.

TWENTY-EIGHT

Christmas approaches, and to take their minds off Rebecca and Riley and focus on more pleasant thoughts, Mikah tries more than a few times to get Vivienne to go shopping for the baby with him. But she refuses, so in the end he goes on his own.
 

And boy does Mikah go shopping. He enlists Celeste’s help to keep it all a surprise for Vivienne, but it’s all he can do to keep the secret himself. He’s giddy as a schoolboy.

When Christmas morning arrives, Mikah is up before Vivienne. He brings her breakfast in bed, buying a little more time for everyone so they can get things set up the way he wants them.
 

Finally, Vivienne finishes eating. The moment has arrived.

“I have something I want to show you,” Mikah says as Vivienne crumples her napkin and puts it on the breakfast tray.
 

She cocks her head at him. “Mikah, we talked about this. No Christmas presents.”
 

He doesn’t say anything, just smirks and climbs off of the bed, grabbing the tray before he walks toward the door. “Come on,” he says with a smile and a wink.
 

Vivienne can’t help but roll her eyes and smile at him. He’s like a kid at a candy store, waiting impatiently for someone to open the door for him. She climbs out of bed to follow him into the dining room.

He opens the door just as she comes up behind him, and what she sees takes her breath away.

Covering every inch of the dining room table is a mountain of things, and it is obvious to her, even from the doorway, that everything on the table is a baby-related item.
 

She looks from the table to him and back again quickly.
 

“We agreed nothing for us, but I never said I wouldn’t get her anything,” Mikah says.
 

Tears fill her eyes as she takes in the scene before her. There are clothes, bottles, toys, and what looks like bedding. And beyond the table are three large boxes standing in front of a very modest Christmas tree.
 

As she steps into the dining room to investigate the boxes, Mikah watches her intently, afraid she might get angry with him. He notices how her eyes glass over while she takes it all in. He follows her slowly, placing the tray on the kitchen island as she goes around the dining room table.
 

The labels on the three boxes reveal them to be a crib, a matching dresser, and what looks like a rocking chair. Vivienne wipes the tears from her eyes.
 

“There’s more.”

“More?” she says, turning around to face him, shock on her features. “What more could there be?” she says.
 

He lets out a chuckle and smiles wide. “Well...” He walks around to her and holds out his hand. “I’ll show you.”
 

Vivienne looks at him skeptically, not sure what he’s getting at, but she takes his hand and goes with him willingly.
 

He leads her to the door of the second bedroom and opens it.
 

“Mikah, it’s empty,” she says, puzzled. She remembers that there was furniture in this room the last time she saw it, and now there is nothing but bare white walls and tan carpet.

“Exactly. I’d like to turn this into her room. Vivienne, I’d really like it if both you and your daughter would stay here with me.” His breath hitches. The way that they’ve been going these last two weeks, one could assume that her staying here was implied, but Mikah is afraid that once the Riley situation has been handled, she will want to move back downstairs. He doesn’t want her to do that. He wants her to stay here.

“Mikah, I...” She turns to look at him. She can see the worry in his eyes. “I’d love to stay here.”
 

He watches as her face lights up. He wants to say it, he wants to tell her, but—
 

“Thank you,” she says into his chest as her arms come tight around him.
 

He can’t help but hold her to him. He plays with her hair, kissing the top of her head. Seeing it all in her eyes, he knows she doesn’t need to say it out loud. She only needs to see it, feel it, and understand it for herself.

“Of course. Anything, anytime,” he whispers.

TWENTY-NINE

The weather has grown cold and the wind has picked up. Vivienne is huddled inside of Mikah’s Boston College sweatshirt and her jacket as she and Celeste walk down toward the river. The closer she gets to the river, the larger the pit in her stomach feels. Everyone seems a little more on edge tonight; their normal walking conversation is absent.
 

When her feet hit the path, the now-familiar shimmer spreads across her skin and she knows she’s exposed. She feels her guardians around her: Mikah and Red behind her, Connor and Andrew in front. Celeste walks beside her, also exposed. With the shields down, she can sense an unfriendly presence nearby, but she doesn’t think it’s Riley.

After a hundred yards or so, Andrew says in her ear, “Let’s pause up here near the dock, but stay on the path.”

“Alright,” Vivienne answers.

The closer they draw to the dock the more anxious Vivienne grows, her heart beating faster though she doesn’t sense danger. Regardless, she’s not letting her guard down.
 

They pause at the dock.
 

“Are you feeling okay?” Celeste asks.

Vivienne can feel a little of Mikah’s anxiety, too, though it’s muted because he is protected.
 

“Yeah, I feel fine, it’s just...”
 

“Just what?” Celeste asks.
 

“Something doesn’t feel right.”

“We’re all feeling it tonight, Vivienne,” Andrew says in her ear. “Let’s keep moving.”
 

“Alright.”
 

The air grows colder the longer they walk. Tonight they make it to the bridge – two hundred yards beyond their normal stopping point - before they turn around and start to head back. Vivienne can’t quite figure out why Andrew wanted to go on further, but she doesn’t question his intentions.
 

Vivienne slows down.
 

“What’s wrong?” Mikah says in her ear, and she can feel him moving toward her.
 

“Stop, keep your position. I just want to drag this out a little longer. Slow down a little,” Vivienne says back to him. “Something tells me that this is the night. I want to give him his chance to show up.”

“Alright, let’s—” Andrew stops talking.
 

The air shifts, and Vivienne senses a force unlike anything she’s ever felt before. An evil force. Though it’s unfamiliar, there’s no doubt in her mind that it’s Riley.

“He’s here,” she whispers.
 

“Where?” A chorus of voices rings in her ear.

“Ahead of us, along the path. But he’s not coming toward us, he’s staying put, hiding in the shadows just before the dock.”

Mikah’s breathing spikes and his wings blaze as Vivienne continues toward Riley’s hiding place.

“This is way too easy,” Riley whispers to himself as he watches the two women approach.
 

They’re walking casually along the river, talking and seeming to have a good time, though neither one of them is smiling or laughing.
 

He runs through the possibilities in his mind. Killing Vivienne’s companion would be exciting. Killing her slowly in front of Vivienne would be even more exciting. But he’s not sure he can kill the woman and still capture Vivienne. Ah, but it would be fun to make Vivienne watch her friend die in front of her. Watch her squirm just a little bit, since he can’t touch her; the pain in his crotch is a constant reminder of that.
 

Vivienne’s training had all taken place in Elysium, and when she asked Zirah about it she told Vivienne that Elysium was the best place to learn about herself and what she was capable of because it is free of distraction and the protections she has on earth. The more Vivienne could understand about her abilities in Elysium, the easier they’d be to use on Earth.

Immediately after beginning her training in Elysium, Vivienne had begun practicing around the condo, and she quickly realized what kind of barrier their protection places on her abilities. But the more she practiced, the easier it became to work through those invisible protections.

“Breathe, you’ll do fine,” Celeste whispers to Vivienne. “Remember what I taught you.”
 

Vivienne had been surprised when Celeste showed up in Elysium about a week ago. She’d come to show Vivienne some basic self-defense moves. Moves that came really easily to her, and it left her bereft and wishing she’d learned them sooner.
 

“It’s strongest right here,” Vivienne whispers as they pass the point where she believes Riley is hiding. Her eyes flicker in the direction of a deep shadow between several boats that are land-docked about fifty feet away.

As they pass the last boat, Vivienne can feel the men shift positions: Mikah and Red move in front of her, Andrew and Connor behind.

In a flash, arms wrap tightly around her, a knife at her throat. “I knew I’d get my hands on you again. Did you miss me?”

“Not really,” Vivienne answers.

THIRTY

Vivienne struggles in Riley’s grasp, distracting him so that Celeste can disappear unnoticed. Then Vivienne feels the shimmer of Celeste’s shield wrapping around her.

“You’re coming with me,” he growls into her ear, and she can feel him tugging on her, but he’s not going anywhere.
 

“What the fuck?” Riley groans as he realizes that getting away with her isn’t going to be as easy as she’d made it seem. His grip on Vivienne tightens.
 

With one hand Vivienne continues to struggle against his grip around her chest. Though panic is washing through her, she feels remarkably calm as she reaches into the front pocket of Mikah’s sweatshirt, where the gold-plated butterfly knife that Celeste gave her rests against her belly, reminding her that her little girl is what she fights for.
 

Mikah watches in horror at the scene playing out before him and struggles against Red, who is holding him back.
 

“She’s fine. Let her do this. She needs to do this. And he can’t get away with her. We’ve locked him down.”
 

Vivienne grips the handle of the knife and pulls it free of her sweatshirt. She adjusts her grip and then jams it straight back into Riley’s thigh, twisting it. At the same time, her wings burst free, pushing him backwards.
 

Riley screams as the gold blade burns his flesh.
 

As soon as she is free, Vivienne turns around to look at him, to watch him writhe on the ground in pain. “Not this time, asshole.”

He looks up, and his eyes tell her that he’s nowhere near done with her. But then he squints, finally seeing what stands before him.
 

She’s an angel! Link had failed to prepare him for this, but suddenly he understands why the devil wants her alive.

“No!” he grunts as he staggers, struggling to stand up.
 

Vivienne watches his movements carefully, seeing what he intends to do. She can feel them, all of them, surrounding her, letting her have her moment of revenge.

Then, one by one, her guardians drop their shields and appear. Mikah, Andrew, Connor and Red all stand behind her in a semi-circle. Celeste, however, does not reappear. Just as soon as Vivienne thinks her name, her vision shimmers, and she understands that although Riley can still see her, Celeste is providing protection.
 

Riley’s eyes widen as he takes in the scene before him. Unsure what to make of the four extremely tall figures dressed in black that have suddenly appeared behind Vivienne, he tries to shake himself loose and disappear back into hell. But he can’t; something or someone is blocking his exit.
 

Riley pulls the knife from his leg and tosses it aside, glancing at the wound Vivienne’s created.
 

Vivienne watches Riley’s anger build, anger at the fact that she’s finally managed to fight back. The bloodlust in his eyes is the same as it has always been, but this time it’s backed up by the devil’s powers, and suddenly his hands are on fire. Fireballs roll maliciously in his palms.
 

Neither Vivienne nor the guardians can prevent menacing grins from forming on their own faces, and Riley becomes even angrier that they are laughing at him.
 

He throws one fireball, then another, straight at them. Vivienne holds her breath and watches each of the fireballs bounce back toward Riley and explode. The first one causes him to flinch, the second one shatters as it hits the shield.
 

“Now it’s my turn,” Mikah growls, reaching for the knife tucked into his belt. He unsheathes it quickly and walks toward Riley. Red disappears and takes a protective form around Mikah.
 

Another fireball forms in Riley’s hand. Mikah’s eyes focus on it, anticipating, and when Riley throws it, he dodges. The fire bounces off of Mikah’s protection and explodes somewhere over the docks.
 

Mikah lunges forward. Riley scrambles to run away, but Mikah is on him, bringing his arms around Riley in a bear hug. Riley manages to get one arm free. Feeling confident again, he goes for the other. Which is exactly what Mikah wanted him to do. Mikah brings his arms up around Riley’s upper arms and interlaces his fingers behind Riley’s neck, effectively immobilizing Riley.