Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) (43 page)

With the blade raised, I finally found an opening.  Charging into the room time seemed to slow.  Crying out the proffered “No,” didn’t stop the blade as it fell.  Using what was left in my reserves I pushed my speed forward watching the blade inch ever closer to Luke.  It wasn’t until I was within arm’s reach of the guy with my hand outstretched pushing with all my might, did I realize that it wasn’t Luke’s neck the guy was aiming for.  Luke’s wide eyes stared at me like I wasn’t real.  The blade however sliced down on one tendon of what I saw was a wing.  They were cutting his connection with God not trying to kill him. Falling to my knees, I wrapped myself around Luke and held him.  It was a long moment before he put his arms around me.

“Are you really here?” he asked me.

The executioner or whatever he was, moved forward.  But he stopped for some reason.  Over Luke’s shoulder, I could see blood welling up at the sight of the wound.  My only thought was to soothe and protect him when I placed my hand on the wound.  What happened next will haunt me until my last breath.

Luke gasped out and I watched as my touch caused his beautiful wings turn to ash.  Not literally, but they seemed to wither and lose most of their brightness.  In fact, Luke’s skin normally a lovely sun kissed tan color, dimmed. 

The magistrate said words I would also replay. “It is done.”  He picked up the paper from the podium and turned.  But as he departed more of his words carried back to us. “We will pray for those things to come.  We will pray for your greatness.”

Then everything and everyone was gone. 

“You are here,” Luke reiterated.

Stunned at the implications of what I’d done, I simply nodded and said. “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry.”

Cupping my face, he looked at me like he still didn’t believe I was there. Pulling back, my face twisted on the verge of tears I added, “I love you.”  It didn’t seem to be enough for what I’d done.

“I know,” he whispered back. “We have to leave before they change their minds and not let us go so easily.”

He was the strong one now.  Standing, he pulled me to my feet and we took off into the bright landscape.  He apparently saw something I didn’t because he moved as if we were averting objects in our path.  We ran for a while before I finally asked, “What are you looking for?”

Turning he said, “The right doorway.” I nodded and continued to run blind.  It wasn’t long before we stepped through an opening that only appeared when we neared it.  Walking through, I was disoriented until we crept through the trees and breached the landscape to reveal Luke’s backyard.

He stopped.  When I looked at him, he was once again dressed in the clothes I’d last seen him in.  Long gone was the white garb he’d been wearing that resembled a toga.  “How did you manage to get to me?”

Before speaking, I thought of the elves, then my mind trailed back to Sebastian and Flynn.  Reaching for my phone, I realized I’d left it in Flynn’s car.  “Oh my god,” which almost seemed poignant, “Flynn and Sebastian,” I cried out with wide eyes.

“What about them,” Luke said.

“I left them fighting demons to get to you,” I said. “Can I use your phone?” I asked.

Sheepishly he said, “It’s broken.”  Did he break it after what he overheard?  Before I could ask or suggest we use his house phone he added, “Look, I’ll just drive you home.”

forestall
(v.)
to prevent, thwart, delay

Relief folded me when Luke pulled his car to a stop behind Flynn’s battered vehicle.  Even though he turned his engine off, he made no move to exit the car. 

“You go ahead, I’ll meet you out back,” he said.

As much as I wanted to kiss him and hope that things were okay between us, I slowly got out of the car.  Entering the house, I didn’t call out to Flynn.  I listened, thinking noise would steer me to where he was in the house.  But I heard nothing.  Heading upstairs, I went to his room.  I knocked but no answer came.  I called his name, but still nothing.  Taking the doorknob in my hand, I soon found out his door was locked.  At least he was home.

With my mind eased that Flynn was alive, I headed back outside.  I found Luke leaning up against the wall in the back of the house deep in the shadows.  The moonlight gave him back some of the glow he’d lost on my behalf.  Standing close to him, he towered over me.  Craning my neck, I tried to capture his attention.  But he was somewhere else looking into the tree line that bordered the property.

“Luke,” I whispered trying to bring him back to me. 

Working, he shifted his head to meet my eyes. “Yeah,” he said, his voice quiet and clear.

Taking a deep breath, I said again. “I’m sorry.”

Hands on my waist, he pulled me close and held me.  I rested my head on his chest and listened to his heart beat.  Tears that I’d held at bay fell in a cascading stream.  I’d damned him yet he hadn’t condemned me.  With my arms wrapped around him, I wept and he kept me close.  For the longest time we said nothing.  Holding me tighter, he spoke out of the blue. “Tell me, do you love him?”

My apology could have been all encompassing. But really, I’d meant it about the damnation.  I hadn’t even thought about what had transpired the last time I saw him.  But I was sorry for that too. Pulling out of his embrace, I felt cold.  But I needed to see his eyes.  We needed distance for this conversation.

With nothing else to do with my hands, I shoved them into the pockets of my jeans. “No, I don’t love him,” I said.  And that was the truth.  He didn’t look away and he didn’t speak.  It was clear he was waiting on me. So I forged ahead.  “The kissing wasn’t supposed to happen.  At the time, I didn’t know you weren’t human.  He was trying to help me keep the succubus at bay,” I said quickly.  Defending Flynn was important, more so because I didn’t want to be the cause of the end of their friendship.

“He knew though,” he spat.  He was stating the obvious and we both knew it.

“Yes, but he couldn’t tell me.  Trust me, he didn’t mean to kiss me,” I said.  I saw in his eyes the mistake I’d made with my words.

Tongue in cheek, he asked, “And you did?”

“No,” I said. “No, I didn’t mean to kiss him. Luke, please, I didn’t tell you because it meant nothing.  It just seemed at the time like there were more important things to worry about.”

“What else haven’t you told me?” he asked.  God, his words cut deep.  A space of time ago, we were in a lover’s embrace.  Now we were on the verge of a nasty argument.

Taking slow deep breaths, I calmed myself.  He had every right to be angry.  I on the other hand didn’t.  “Nothing about the past,” I said.

“So you haven’t kissed Sebastian?” he asked.

Rubbing at my eyes, I confessed. I told him about Sebastian’s gallant rescue and the kiss that transferred part of his power to me.  I added in the kiss with Bernadette to show that this was all very clinical.  His eyes had turned to slits but opened some when I got to the part with Bernadette.

Flatly, he asked. “Anyone else?”

For a moment, I didn’t get his meaning.  But then it was clear.  I decided I’d make a full confession.  So I told him about the Valentine’s Day date with Paul.  “We weren’t together then,” I tacked on at the end looking for some defense of my actions.

He huffed and said, “So you left me to go to him that night.” 

I wasn’t certain it was a question he was asking but I answered anyway. “I needed to be sure and I tried to tell you about that.  But you didn’t want to know.”

“You love him,” he mumbled.

Forcing myself not to look away from the pain in his eyes, I said. “Yes, but not the way I love you.”

“How can you be sure?” he questioned.

Not wasting time, I explained. “I thought I loved him for a long time but when you came into my life I realized my love for him was that of friendship.  He confused me for a while and maybe I thought I owed him.  But when I see him, I feel warmth, caring, and hope that nothing bad will ever happen to him.  There has never been that spark of dynamite I feel when I’m near you.”

 Optimism sprang to life in his face. But it dimmed. “What about Flynn?” he asked.  But he didn’t give me a chance to answer.  “There is something you need to know.”

Cutting him off, I didn’t want to travel down this road.  Flynn needed Luke as much as I did.  Their friendship was important. “There is something between us, I admitted.  But it’s not what you think. Sebastian says it has something to do with us being cambions.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means its biology and nothing more.  Flynn doesn’t want me and I don’t want him. It’s you who I want,” I said closing the distance between us.

“What about Sebastian?”

Okay, that halted me.  “There is something else I should tell you,” I said.  His face fell a little in anticipation. “It’s not what you think,” I hedged.  Then I went into the story about my demon and the night he left.  I told him all about ending up in Sebastian’s room.  But continued on all the way to the moment he found us.  “And now I’m almost afraid to go to sleep,” I said.  “She’s on a mission to end my virginity.”

Ignoring my final statements, he latched onto a different part of my story.  “So, some part of you wants him,” his words were cold like the air surrounding us.

Blinking, I desperately held back the tears that were forming in my eyes.  I wouldn’t use that as a defense against him.  Answering to my long list of crimes was punishment for all the pain I’d put in his face. “Maybe, but I have no control of that part of me.  I don’t want him anymore than Flynn or Paul for that matter.”

Exhaling several breaths that almost sounded like chuckles, he said, “That’s not encouraging.”

Giving up hope, I said, “I’m so sorry,” I turned. “I don’t deserve you and I should have stayed away like I promised myself.  If l had, none of this sorted mess would have happened.”

In the wake of my words, I began to walk towards the side of the house to go to my room.  He caught my arm and spun me to face him. “This isn’t easy,” he said tightly. “Knowing you want them yet saying you love me.”

Resting my hand on his that still gripped my arm, he let me go.  One backward step and I said, “I don’t blame you.  I can’t help what I am.  And maybe Flynn is right.  We shouldn’t be together.”

Moving fast he lifted me off my feet and swiveled to press me against the cool brick of the house wall.  He crushed his lips to mine and feverishly kissed me.  With my arms pinned to my sides, I could do nothing but accept or reject what he offered.  I kissed him back.  We both gasped for air when he finally placed me on my feet.  “This is so fucked up.  But there is no way in hell I can let you go.  I fucking love you.”  It was odd to hear the F word come from Luke’s mouth.

Staring into the summer blue eyes, I’d fallen in love with, I said, “I f’ing love you too.”

He kissed me again wrapping his arms around me.

Clapping came from a short distance away, but Luke took his time disengaging from me. Separated, I brushed my hands down my clothes to brush the invisible wrinkles away.  “I guess the two of you kissed and made nice.” The words were laced with disgust.

“Flynn,” I said desperately looking over at him.  A part of me wanted to run and hug him making sure he was real.  But that same part knew that things were tenuous between Luke and I.  I didn’t think hugging Flynn was a way to patch things up between us.

“No, I’ve got this,” Luke said. “Go upstairs and get something to wear for tomorrow.  We aren’t staying here tonight.  I don’t trust...” He let the words drift off.  Understanding that he didn’t trust my demon, I searched his eyes before he looked at Flynn.

Moving forward they met somewhere in the middle.  Keeping quiet, I stayed because I just didn’t know what they were going to do.  Someone needed to be here to referee.

 “Look man,” Flynn said.

But Luke didn’t have words on his mind.  He struck like the lethal weapon he was.  His fist connected with Flynn squarely in the jaw.  Flynn lifted off his feet and slammed onto the ground.  Holding his face he muttered a curse.  I gasped at the same time.  Luke turned to look at me with eyes filled with storms not yet complete.  Saying nothing, I knew he wanted me to go.