Dangerous Lovers (54 page)

My eyes grew wide as my lips parted slightly, not believing the jealousy I saw in his eyes. Did he realize I was not in the same life he knew before? Or that they were not almost lovers, they were friends, they had become family? I knew his temperament well enough to know that he was trying to distract me. He was trying to evoke my defensive side, and in the end getting this key out of the lake would be the last thing on my mind. I had to stay focused. “Rasure is either going to die or be haunted by all of us.”

“You don’t understand death, Love. How dangerous these thoughts are.” There was concern in his hard stare. I doubt most would have seen it if he spoke to them in this manner, but I both saw and felt it, right to my very core.

He was going to give me whiplash with how rapidly his tone and stance were changing. I knew one thing, as long as I stayed angry, I stayed focused.

“You’re right. As far as I’m concerned, this is a wicked dream. I have a paper due tomorrow, a portfolio that I should be working on, and a lawsuit against Rasure that is nearly won. Dream or death, either way I will win this.”

He stepped forward and peered down at me. “Cadence does not share your rage. Lover number one—Gavin, is that his name? He has vengeance, but not for Rasure. For the man that took his sister’s life. Lover number two, now he let go of his brother’s death, thanks to you…but he’s not angry enough at Rasure to even understand what he is fighting. He, along with lover number three, no doubt will be eaten alive by her army.”

I was speechless, frozen with uncertainty.

“You’re vengeful. Rasure didn’t know what you were in life, but she knows by now, and she also knows exactly how to torment a vengeful spirit just like you. She’ll drive you to the point of insanity and force you to beg for freedom. A freedom she will never give you.”

“Lies,” I said in a timid whisper.

“I have never lied to you before, and I will not start now. Let go. Don’t drag your friends’ souls into this. They will follow you, you know they will, but they will not be able to hold on to you. They will be called to where their soul’s fight is.”

“There has to be another way.” My gaze begged him for a solution, but the only one he cared to give was for me to let go.

“There is,” I heard Skylynn say.

She’d appeared at our side.

“Don’t you dare show your face here. You’ve done enough,” Phoenix fumed, which ignited a protective instinct deep inside of me. No one talks to my friends that way.

“Your anger is going to end us all,” Skylynn replied in an almost apologetic tone.

“No, my anger is going to protect her,” he guaranteed.

“Everyone else will eventually perish without her, without the two of you. You know that.”

“I know nothing. You have weaved this web of spells so deep that no one can find their way out. I’m not going to pull her through this.”

“Fine. I will.”

“You have no say,” Phoenix seethed.

“I have a say!” I yelled, not having any clue what they were arguing about in the first place. “I don’t give a fat flying freak about what you two are arguing about. I have an Escort to kill.” I turned to go to the lake, but Skylynn held my arm as she kept her glare on Phoenix.

“We’ve got three choices here. You burn her, I find someone else to do just that, or we help her find her revenge.”

“No one will burn her against my wishes, and you know that,” Phoenix raged through a locked jaw.

Seeing that he was not giving in to her reasoning, she changed her approach, and the protective angel that had fed me every word to say to those psychiatrists and lawyers surfaced. “I wonder what your little Sunshine friend would say about this. If she would find a way to help her, send Guardian here to heal her or the others, if she would not ask her all-powerful witch to bring her back from death’s door. She is one of seven, and Sunshine, as you call her, would not let one of her sisters fall.”

Guardian! He was still with him. Those brothers were still side-by-side after all this time. That eased me for some reason. But wait—why did she think Guardian was a healer. Exactly what the hell had these boys been up to all this time?

“That is a theory. Nothing more.”

I cocked my eyebrow, knowing deep down that the seven sisters was no theory. It couldn’t have been because my grandmother, who had nothing to do with either of them, had spoken of it to me. I didn’t have a chance to reveal that or question who this Sunshine girl was.

“Genevieve is too far gone to be brought back by anyone,” Phoenix raged on, causing the reality of my situation to settle a little deeper into my mind.

“Right, so burn her. I’d hate to ask Guardian to come to her rescue.”

“You do
not
understand the dynamics of what you are proposing. And stay away from Guardian. They have enough to deal with right now without your conniving,” Phoenix threw back at her.

I could swear I saw shame in Skylynn’s eyes. “Guardian knows that without this girl you will perish eventually, which means she is now in his path. Your call, Phoenix. According to you, either way we’re doomed, so why die alone?” was Skylynn’s quick and all-too-smooth comeback.

He leaned into her. “You’re only dragging this out so I’ll become attached, so I’ll burn her myself.”

Attached? What am I, a puppy?
I turned crimson with rage.

“Then save us some time and do it now.”

“No,” he said flatly.

“Give me one reason why,” she argued.

He looked away, refusing to answer her, like he had already said it once and didn’t care to repeat himself.

“You’re jealous, aren’t you?” Skylynn accused him. “You know if you save her that she will demand that you save them, for you to sire all of her past lovers. You would rather her die than have to look them in the eye forevermore.”

His glare met hers instantly. “There wouldn’t be past lovers if you’d told me you found her. This is your fault. Not mine.”

“She was a child, Phoenix! She never would have understood, seen you through the eyes of a woman. It would not have been the same as it was before, and you know it.”

“She hasn’t been a child for awhile. Do you honestly think I couldn’t smell her on those boys? Both Mason and Wilder reeked of her scent—you knew about that. You led them to her.” He leaned forward with a pained, lethal gaze. “What did I ever do to deserve that? What made you that
cold
, Skylynn? All you had to do was trust us. We would have helped you. There was never a reason for these games you play.” He let silence come to the night as he gazed at me. I didn’t see jealousy in his eyes, at least not to the degree that Skylynn was accusing him of. I saw grief. “You robbed us. I could have protected her. It’s not about any past lovers, it’s about the fact that you left her vulnerable. You’ve been killing her for years. ”

Skylynn rocked backward, as if his words had stabbed her where she stood. “I led them to her because I thought they were in our army. And I’ll admit that I was wrong about what role they were supposed to play, but I don’t regret it…she was too young.” Skylynn glanced away. “She’s real, Phoenix. Everything you have ever wanted is standing before you. Help me keep her where she belongs. With you.”

Phoenix’s eyes moved to mine, instantly losing the rage they had been spearing into Skylynn. I could see him questioning his resolve. His long fingertips beckoned me closer, but I couldn’t move even if I wanted to. I saw a fog leave my body. As it glided to him, it turned into a sphere. He studied the gray ball of what I thought might be energy for what seemed like eternity, then he sent it back to my body.

His eyes locked with mine, and the second they did a wave of hot, seething energy swarmed through me like a tidal wave, causing my toes to curl and a gasp to escape my lips. I tried to hold my breath, to tell my chest not to rise and fall rapidly. I’d never been so revealing with anyone.
What was he doing to me?

My reaction caused his eyes to widen with surprise. I could swear I saw forgiveness and hope in his eyes. I was so numb, so at peace, and I had no idea why. I had to figure out how to block this boy. I could not give him control over me.
What test did he just give me…and did I pass it?
Those were the questions I was screaming on the inside.

Beats later, I found my focus again. “Look, I have no idea what the two of you are arguing about or why I’m in the middle of this. All I know is I was dead when I woke up this morning, and I’ll bring death before the day is over.” I pushed past Phoenix, trying to reach the lake. I didn’t know why I needed or wanted that key, but I couldn’t focus on anything else. It was like I knew it was my answer—the first step in killing Rasure.

Phoenix’s strong hand slid around my arm as I passed him and pulled me to him. Against my neck he whispered, “We end this, and you let go. You die in peace.” Even if I wanted to argue with him, his warm breath was easing down my neck and made it impossible for me to form a clear, coherent argument. For a second, I even forgot what I was trying to end.

His thumb started to trace small circles against my skin, driving me to the point of distraction. “Why are you so intent on going for a night swim?”

“There is a key. I think.”

“You think,” he repeated.

“Don’t toy with her,” Skylynn warned. “You know she’s in a fog.”

“Exactly. That is why you should not be putting ideas into her head.”

“I’m not in a fog,” I said, raising my hands to stop their bickering.

“Is that a fact?” Phoenix said as he gazed down at me. “You see, Love, when you die…your mind panics, reaches back for memories as it tries to understand how it arrived at its end, but at first the memories are like a dream. Only places are clear; the words, the objects in those places change. Emotions come into play after some time, and those emotions shape the dream into a solid memory. You’re looking for a key, but for all you know it could be a book, a jewel, or nothing at all. Minutes ago, you were prepared to charge into the manor and freeze, then shatter Rasure—now you think you need a key. Tell me that’s not odd. Tell me you do not want to dive into this lake for nothing more than kicks and giggles. That you only want to kill that woman for the same reason.”

My stare moved to the snow on the bank. I did feel like I was in a dream. Nothing made sense. I flashed back over my recent memories. I remembered developing that film clear as day. I remembered that key. It had my family name on it, along with an ‘M.’

As I focused on that, I remembered the time at the shop entirely differently. I remembered spending the afternoon at Gavin and Mason’s side, going through old newspaper clippings we found online, ones that held images of Rasure. I remembered in each one that she had a clock somewhere near her. I remembered Mason making a joke about how it must be her soul, that or the soul of the poor bastard that had married her. That remark freaked out Cadence. She took the key and shoved it in her pocket. By then, the shop was filling up and we didn’t have the time to do any more research.

I remembered something else: that key floating in the cab of Gavin’s truck, falling out of Cadence’s hand, all of them struggling to grab it as they escaped, but the lack of air didn’t give them a chance.

“Odd or not, the fog is clearing. That key unlocks something, and it’s in the cab of Gavin’s truck. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still going to freeze Rasure to death, but I want that key now.”

His gray eyes cascaded over my determined expression. A nod from him caused the water to begin to part, and within three beats the lakebed was exposed and the water was draped aside, dancing in place, waiting for permission to fall again.

Wilder’s car was on the bottom, and Gavin’s truck was on its side just behind it. With more confidence than I should have had, I walked across the rocky lakebed to the truck, fumbling over the rocks as gracefully as I could.

I looked everywhere, but I couldn’t find that stupid key. I focused on the memories of the time I was under water. I was sure that key didn’t make it out of this lake on anyone. It was still drifting downward when I left, when I had no choice but to fight for air.

The memory of that caused fog to leak from my lips. I heard the cracking of the water that was being held back. A halfhearted glance to the ice the lake was becoming revealed my key: it was frozen in place in the water.

I was screwed now. If Phoenix let this water go, it would flow to God knows where. I could try to catch it, but I had my doubts that I would be so lucky.

I felt a hot breeze and glanced to my side to find Phoenix. He reached his long fingertips to the ice, melting a small hole in it instantly. He had my key in the next beat, all the while holding my stare. “Your key, Love.”

With a trembling hand, I took it from him. He looped his arm around my waist, and in the next beat I was on the bank and the lake was falling into place.

“How do you do that? Move that fast?” I whispered, trying to understand what he was, what he had become since he left the manor.

He reached to trace the outline of my eye, sending a surge of warmth through me. “There is so much I could have shown you. Millions of places I wanted to take you…but that is lost to us now…”

“That’s a shame,” I breathed before finding my focus once again. I went to run, but he held my wrist, and when he did I felt a blazing burn. It was so painful, I screamed out in agony and fell to my knees gasping. I tried to pull away, but he was too strong. He pulled me up with little effort, and in the next beat his lips were on my wrist. The agony faded instantly, and I sighed as I imagined his lips moving up my arm, across my body.