Love Beyond Sight (11 page)

Whoever she talked to answered and he shifted his position, trying to focus on what she said instead of his giant need to make love to the woman who would never want him.

"How are they?" She looked up at him, worry evident in the way she chewed on her lower lip. He reached out and stroked her mouth, forcing her to stop biting her rose-petal entrance. She pushed his fingers away.

"Are they going to be okay?"

None of this sounded like good news. If it was Outsider business, then it affected him in as much as it might make it harder for him to keep the demon away from Eden. "What's wrong?"

She covered the mouthpiece with her hand. "Leonardo and Marina are very hurt."

"How?"

Eden groaned, dropping the phone. He reached forward just as her head sagged, her neck not holding it up anymore. She'd fallen into another premonition. Damn it.

As he pulled her into his arms to support her, he grabbed the phone. "This is Samuel. I'm… with Eden." He didn't know who he spoke to, but it was so rare that he let anyone into his world, even over the phone, it made him uncomfortable.

"You're
with
Eden? What does that mean? Who are you?"

Samuel hung up the phone. Eden's soul called to his, pulling at his power to join with hers. He wasn't exactly sure what he was supposed to do. His abilities had never behaved this way before.

He closed his eyes and sent his consciousness seeking hers. Usually, it was an easy slip into her mind. Samuel could see what she saw and battle the demon if he encroached on her experience. This time, however, it felt more like her powers blocked him, pushed up against his own.

He tried to thrust forward into her mind but it didn't get him anywhere. Taking a deep breath, he attempted it again. This time, however, her power slammed into his own and, even though he had no conscious control, it felt like, without his consent, he reached out with psychic claws and tugged hard at her.

Samuel gasped. To say that it hurt like hell was an understatement. Tears escaped his eyes as he tried not to scream. Eden's lids lifted as his mind returned to his own body. She stared at him, her eyes blank.

His power still held hers and although he couldn't break through to her mind, he knew something was going on. Something new. Even as it hurt like hell, making his head scream from the migraine forming between his eyes, it felt… right.

"Eden." He could barely form words. His skin ached. It might flay from his face at any moment and he didn't give a shit.

"A club. Red walls upstairs, peeling gray wallpaper downstairs."

He grabbed her face in his hands, squeezing her cheeks. "What?"

"That's where they meet. They have more of the devices; it's magic, dark magic. It's where he gets what he needs. Where he finds the people who make things happen for him."

Her vision. She was telling him her premonition. Samuel laid her gently on the floor before jumping to his feet. He rushed to his computer. He'd type it up. Whatever she said, he would make sure it was recorded.

Grabbing his head as it pounded harder, he realized his body disliked the space between them. He was supposed to be touching her, holding her through this. Damn. But he had to get this correct.

He rushed back, scooping her up in his arms. After today, he'd order a voice recorder but for now he was going to have to deal with this as best he could. With Eden secured in his embrace, he sat down on the chair next to his desk. One handed, he started to type.

Red Walls. Gray Wallpaper. Bad People. Group
. Yes, he thought he got all of it.

"We need to go there. As a group we can retrieve the necessary spell to reverse the damage. But we have to go fast. HURRY."

Eden's body seized in his arms and he gripped her tighter. His energy grabbed hers, forcing it forward. She jerked one more time while her eyelids blinked rapidly.

Finally, he saw consciousness return to her pupils. She rubbed at her face like she wanted to make sure it was still attached to her body.

"You're okay." He said it more to assure himself than to tell her. She would know if she was fine or not. But he needed to say it like he could make it true.

"I'm okay." She sat up, throwing her arms around him. "I could feel you. It was like you kept me here, like you were an anchor not letting me move too far, not letting me fall away from myself." He felt wetness on his neck and he realized she must be crying. Not sure what to do with tears, particularly Eden's, he held her more tightly. "This was the first time ever I knew I would come back. I wasn't afraid I'd disappear in it forever. And it was clearer. I'm sure it was a real one."

"I'm so glad I could help you." His voice sounded scratchy to his own ears. He might start tearing up if he didn't get control of himself.

"Isabelle." She jerked back to look him in the eyes.

He shook his head. "What?"

"She was on the phone with me when the vision hit. What happened to her?"

It had just happened but Samuel had pushed that totally out of his mind already. "I hung up on her."

"You did? Why? Didn't you explain?" She shuffled off his lap, grazing past his cock and causing it to jerk in response. If his penis could talk, it would express its love of her movements poetically. All Samuel could do was manage not to groan aloud. He did enough of that internally.

"I didn't know her and I'm not used to explaining myself."

She grabbed his shirt. "It doesn't matter. Thank you for what you did. We have to get to New Orleans and I need to speak to Isabelle. Now. Where is my phone?"

He stood up and crossed to the phone, picking it off the floor. Eden couldn't leave his apartment. He'd just gotten her there. His face seemed to be adjusting, slightly, and he didn't want to lose her yet. Well, he'd never
want
to lose her, but it was inevitable.

"I can't go to New Orleans and I've got news for you, neither can you, it's snowing buckets outside."

"Oh that." She looked up through the window at the snow. "You're right. Guess there aren't flights taking off right now."

"Correct." He handed her the phone. "So whatever it is will have to wait until the weather gets better. And even then I can't get on a plane. I don't have any identification to speak of." He pointed at his face, hoping he could make it amusing. Humor wasn't his strongest suit but the situation seemed to call for it. "The whole changing appearance problem makes it impossible for me to get a driver's license."

She scratched her head. "How did we get here then?"

"I drove."

"Well, obviously." She shook her head. "With what car?"

"One I stole."

Okay, Samuel liked this conversation less and less. He'd hoped to wait to tell her about his illegal activities until they'd known each other face-to-face for at least a week.

"You
stole
a car?"

She looked so adorable staring at him with moral indignation written all over her lovely face.

"Going to tell me I'm going to hell?"

Eden narrowed her eyes. "I'm going to make you think twice before you do bad things. Shall I make a list of what you've done today? You must have broken into my hotel room, kidnapped me, and stolen someone's car."

"All in the pursuit of your safety, gorgeous."

She rolled her eyes and dialed a number into the phone. "I won't be responsible for the breaking down of your soul, Samuel."

"Still think I have one?" He wasn't so sure.

"I'm not answering that. Hello, Isabelle?"

And just like that he'd lost her attention. Like the sullen child he'd never been, he felt immensely jealous that all of Eden's attention wasn't on him.

He wasn't sure he could really do this Outsider thing. Not if he was going to have to constantly share Eden. Gods, what was wrong with him? He didn't behave this way. His face started to itch and he sat down in his chair. Eden spoke on the phone in the background but he didn't listen to what she said. Instead, he spun around in his desk chair, letting it turn round and round until he felt dizzy from it.

"Okay, we'll come."

He caught the last thing she said before she hung up the phone. Looking up, he wondered how she intended to get them anywhere given their current situation. He was out of ideas. Or maybe he just didn't care to come up with any. Perhaps he seriously needed a nap. With Eden in his arms. Naked. He closed his eyes to try to push away the unwanted images.

No use obsessing over what I can't have
.

"You okay?"

He opened his eyes to regard her. She stood, one eyebrow slanted downward with the opposite hand on her hip.

"Sure." He tried to smile and must have looked deranged because she didn't stop her intent stare. "I'm not sure why you told them we'd come somewhere when we clearly can't."

Eden grinned and it lighted up the room more than any light bulb ever could. "We don't need human means of transportation. We have Gabriel."

"Gabriel?" He stood up. "What is he going to do?"

"Transport us using his powers." Eden shoved her phone in her pocket. "Anything you want to bring with you, get it on your person now because any moment we'll going to move across the country. The whole trip should only take a matter of minutes."

Samuel didn't like the sound of that. "Eden, I'm not sure I want to do that. It sounds… weird."

"It is. I've only done it once and over a short distance. One end of the house to the other when he practiced. But, it'll get the job done."

"What if he, I don't know, scrambles us up?" Samuel didn't know Gabriel. He didn't trust him and he wasn't going to risk Eden on an untried entity.

"Are you nervous?" She grinned, walking toward him.

"No, it's not that…"

She laughed. "Liar."

Eden placed her arms around him, hugging him tight against his body. Her scent filled his senses and he relaxed. "I don't want anything happening to you."

"All will be well. I've had the premonition. I saw us in New Orleans. We end up there."

"Eden." He kissed her forehead. "You've been wrong before."

"But this time it was different."

Samuel felt his skin start to itch and not just on his face. His arms, his legs, his torso—they all started up at the same time.

"What the…"

Eden interrupted him. "It's Gabriel. He's moving us." She winked. "See you down South."

"No, wait…"

The world spun around him and he heard himself scream. Never again. He wouldn't ever do this again.
Never. Ever
.

* * * *

Samuel came to with a start. He was flat on his back. Flinching, he tried to sit up and gentle hands pushed him back down.

"Easy now." Eden looked down at him and he realized his head rested in her lap. "You had a hard time. It really knocked you out."

Footsteps approached and seconds later a man with shoulder-length brown hair regarded him. "You okay, bro? It hits everyone differently."

Pushing past Eden's embrace, he made himself sit up. He wasn't going to start out in a vulnerable position.

Eden started to object. "Samuel…"

He'd already gotten into a sitting position by the time she got the word out. Staring at Gabriel, he held the other man's gaze. "I'm fine and I'm not your 'bro'."

"Ha." Gabriel crossed his arms over his chest. "Easy, tiger. I mean no harm and we're the closest thing you'll ever have to real family. We're all freaks together."

Eden made a sound of disgust. "Ignore him. He likes to be provocative. At least that's what Loraine always says."

"Loraine shouldn't be giving away all my secrets. You girls… you talk and we guys have no privacy." He held out his hand to Samuel and for a moment Samuel considered not taking it. Begrudgingly, he let the other guy help him stand up. As unsteady as he was there was no way he would win in any macho contest at that moment.

"Careful with this one, Samuel. These Outsider women, they like to whisper to each other."

Eden stood up behind him. "Stop that, Gabriel. He's just woken up and it's… complicated between us."

"To say the least." If he sounded bitter, he wasn't sorry. First Fate took his face, now it had dropped him in New Orleans with no chance of real happiness. Even he could only pretend to be pleased for so long. "So, we're here. Let's get whatever I came here to do over with."

Gabriel grinned. "I love it. You've got a chip on your shoulder so big you might fall over from it. Welcome to the family. You fit right in."

Samuel wanted to punch him.

Chapter Nine

Sebastian stepped out into the snowstorm, pulling his ski hat farther down on his head. He hated the snow. Never once had he regretted choosing to live in the southern half of the United States. New Orleans had proven to be all he could have wanted and more. Everyone there was used to weird things. If a person seemed a bit off, no one gave it a second thought.

Somewhere more conservative, he might have found himself having to explain his odd behavior more frequently. He hated the snow. Still, he trudged forward. Eden's presence had left him and he wanted to know if it was simply that he was being blocked by the influx of bad weather or if the pathetic Outsider had somehow managed to get away even amidst the white mess currently blanketing the east coast the United States.

He also had a second reason for wanting to put some space between Alexa and himself. It was time for him to eat, and if he spent any more time in Alexa's company, he was going to have to feed on her. That wouldn't do him any good. He still needed the bitch to locate all of her kin. Once she'd done that, he would suck her blood through a straw.

It was getting harder and harder to resist. The night before when they'd fucked until she couldn't see straight and he was out of his mind with boredom, he had almost reached down and eaten her right there. Sebastian felt proud of his self-control. His father would be pleased. The last dimension he'd taken over he hadn't maintained his cool very well and the old man had lots to say on the subject. This time, no one would doubt his ability to maintain a level of decorum up to the family's standards.