The Seer's Lover (The Seven Archangels Series) (8 page)

“I like Gotzone and Stogey.” The dog’s ears perked up. “I love the beach. Saving tourists who are trying to kill themselves surfing in a full body suit. That
is
nice by the way,” he teased.

“I flipped you off, didn’t I?”

He nodded.

“But you were
so
laughing at me!”

His deep, masculine laugh soothed her. He filled a glass with water and handed her two Tylenol from his bedside table. Then he pulled a small wooden stool out of the corner and sat down next to the bed with a bandage. He removed the cloth from her cut, smoothed her hair away from the cut and put on the bandage.

She melted at his touch. “Thanks. Who’s Gotzone?”

“My horse.”

All at once, a rush of memories hit her—Anna whispering,
“Someday I’ll let Lucas take me for a ride…”

“You work for Ron?”

“I thought we established that. We picked you up in Paquera.”

“No, you don’t understand.” She tried again to sit up. How could she warn him about Anna or tell him her eyes glowed red? In her bungalow yesterday, Anna had seemed normal. Comforting, even. “I need to find this Carmen that Juan Torres told me to ask for.”

“Relax there, missy. Carmen’s my aunt, and Juan Torres is one of her cousins. You need to get that wet suit off, you must be boiling.” He stood and went to the other side of the bed, put a knee on the mattress behind her, and brushed her hair off to the side. He took his time dragging the zipper down her back.

The click of each hook down the track let in cool air. She shivered with pleasure.
How about you peel it off?
No, wait. His aunt was the right Carmen!

Her head swam.

“I’ll give you some privacy,” he said in a rough voice.

She turned over. He wouldn’t look at her and she noticed his hands were trembling. “I left a blue bag on the beach. Did you see it?”

He nodded.

“Wait.” She reached for his arm before he got up. “Is she the only Carmen in Mal Pais?”

Lucas stood and headed for the door, “No, but she’s my favorite.”

After he left, Calise rolled onto her back. What could she say to him? “Hey, I think your employer is a demon and wants to have sex with you. Be careful.”

Shit. Shit. Double shit.

He’d think she was crazy, like everyone else.

She winced with pain when she stood. Stogey licked her hand, circled a few times, and then plopped down on the pillow she’d abandoned.

Although sore and probably sporting some sexy bruises, she peeled off the wet suit and surveyed the room hoping to find a mirror to assess her damages. She spied a family picture on his end table. Lucas wore a graduation cap and gown and two proud-looking parents hugged him. His bedside reading table held
Treasure Island
and
Enigma
and a smattering of classical CDs, including Bach and Vivaldi.

Dude needs to get out more.

Wasn’t she the pot calling the kettle black?

Calise limped outside. Her vision became double and her head throbbed, so she crawled into the hammock under the overhang. All she saw before she drifted off to sleep were Anna’s flaming eyes.

****

Lucas retrieved her bag and told Bob he’d make sure she got back to her resort. He rushed back, taking the stairs two at a time. He found her outside sound asleep in the hammock, so he covered her with a light blanket then ran a finger down her cheek. He’d like to find her napping here every day.

A friend.

She wouldn’t stay, of course. She was on vacation so why couldn’t he be her friend until she left? That might sustain him until…

Until what?

Until his miserable reality continued to unfold and bite them both in the ass.

Sure, make a friend. And don’t forget to tell her that you see angels and demons, your family has necklaces that summon angels, and your father is in a mental institution.
Wait, he almost forgot—he exposed himself as a seer two nights ago, let two women die yesterday, and an army of demons were likely on their way here to kill him today.

Not really the most desirable guy on the block. He needed to get her back to her resort. Now.

The ticking minutes delayed the inevitable. He needed to get Calise away from him and forget about her. But she snored peacefully like a lap cat, and he possessed neither the strength nor the desire to rouse her.

With his blanket snuggled around her, Lucas found he was jealous of both the inanimate blanket and the animate woman. The blanket was allowed to comfort her in a way her couldn’t, and Cali, who existed in naivety of the world he knew, could invite peaceful bliss into her dreams.

But the blanket hadn’t saved her life, he had. He’d succeeded today at one thing, and if demons murdered him tomorrow, she would be the one person in his life he hadn’t failed.

He should let that sustain him. He should wake her up right now and get her back to the resort. Good deed accomplished. But he didn’t budge.

Five more minutes…

She moaned softly in her sleep and stretched. He steeled himself for what he must do. Her eyelashes began to flutter. A shiver of satisfaction rippled through him. He’d been so relieved when she opened her eyes on the beach. He was so relieved she’d open her eyes here and the first thing she’d see would be…him.

Sexuality, apparently, had a life force. A power that took over and screwed with the mind, pummeled the heart into an erratic beat, and pawed at the subconscious with a burning desire to connect. Lucas wanted to connect with this woman whatever it took.

Too bad, seer. She’s not like you, no matter what you think you heard. Bringing her into your world is not an option. So get the hell out of hers.

Until she uttered two simple words that changed everything.

“Anna…demon…”

She blinked drowsily. They held each other’s gaze. “I remember now,” she whispered. Her hands squeezed the blanket until her knuckles turned red.

“What do you mean?” He must have heard her wrong. She couldn’t be a seer. Yet if she understood him, then maybe, just maybe… Tantalized by the raw enticement of the idea, he allowed it—couldn’t stop it, actually. Neither spoke while he drank her in.

Lucas banked the moment in his memory and turned his heart on low and brain on high. At all costs, her protection was more important than anything. “You aren’t safe with me. I need to get you back to Ron’s resort.” He attempted to sound indifferent.

“You want me to go? But I need to tell you—”

“Not now.”
Should he send her back to Anna if she knows the truth?
“I have to work.”
If Anna so much as breathes on her wrong…
“I can walk you—” Footsteps clamored up his staircase.

On his feet in a matter of seconds, Lucas withdrew two hidden Buck knives.

“I came as soon as Bob called about Cal—” Ron held up his hands. “Whoa! What the hell, man? Who are you expecting?”

“Uh, sorry. Nobody…” Lucas stammered. He tucked the knives back into his boots. “I’ve had some trouble with kids…” He deliberately let his voice trail off. Cali stood shivering next to him in a sunflower yellow bikini. “Let me give you a shirt to put on to walk home in,” Lucas said, rushing inside his bungalow. He couldn’t bear to say good-bye to her.

Without a doubt, he’d heard her wrong; he’d heard what he wanted to hear.

Better she think him an asshole. “I’m late.” He tossed the shirt at Ron and leaned on his railing looking out into the ocean. He had a lot of questions for Carmen that needed answers.

Calise put on the shirt and grabbed her bag. “Thank you, Lucas,” she said aloud. But when she brushed past him, she whispered in his ear and this time, she spoke distinctly. “Stay away from Anna.” She didn’t look back.

Chapter 5

Boston, Massachusetts

Shane O’Grady woke with a massive hangover, trying to piece together what he remembered from the night before. His stomach rolled with nausea, but not from drinking.

Something was very wrong, but what?

He rolled over and realized it wasn’t a
what
that was wrong, it was a
who.

Nara lay in bed next to him sleeping with a smile on her demonically beautiful face. He rolled over and pulled the pillow over his head.

Son of a bitch.

His band had played a gig at a bar in Roxbury last night, and now he was back at his seedy hotel with
her.
His constant state of depression had been affecting his performances lately, so their fill-in lead singer, Dave, convinced him to try coke to rev him up before the show. It had done the trick, and then some. His drumsticks flew in perfect rhythm during every set and Dave even nodded for him to slow down a bit.

Groupie girls, or “e-lays,” as the boys called them, bought them beer and shots before, during, and after the show. Shane never hooked up with these “easy lays,” who’d screw any unkempt guy who sang or played an instrument. These chicks pimped themselves out for a dinner of rock n roll and dessert of sex. But last night, the cocaine and alcohol kept him high and low simultaneously, and Shane was at the point of oblivion by two a.m. He welcomed the slow mental and physical destruction. Nothing mattered since the day Calise had walked out of his life.

But he recognized a familiar face in the bar.

Nara.

Still a demon.
Still hot as shit.

Once he’d seen her, he couldn’t help himself. He threw aside the men draped all over her like sweaty t-shirts, grabbed her by the front of her shirt, and slammed her against the nearest wall. He kissed her hard. She responded in kind, and then some.

“Long time no see, my beautiful angel,” Nara had said, coming up for air.

Shane had tried to focus his eyes. “Shut up and get on my fucking bike.” She fished around in the front pocket of his jeans for his keys and pulled him outside. She kick-started his bike. He got on behind her, and they took off. That was the last thing he clearly remembered, besides snippets of them screwing.

Awake now, the morning after, she smiled at him. “I missed you, babe, and I don’t say that lightly. Let me back in and I’ll take care of you. I won’t leave you alone, and in pain, like that bitch human did.”

Shane grabbed her throat. “Never. Bring. Her. Up. Understand?”

Nara smiled.

He released her neck. All he’d ever yearned for was a permanent source of love that wouldn’t leave him. He’d believed—still believed—Calise had been that person, and damn Nara to hell if she fucked with the one good memory in his life.

“You got it. I’ll do one better. I’ll make sure you never think about her again. Here, swallow this.” She pressed a little white pill into his palm, and her head disappeared under the covers.

Shane moaned with her service and swallowed the little white pill.
Anything to dull the pain.
He didn’t have anything to lose anymore, because he’d already lost everything.

I guess this is why angels are forbidden to be with humans. Humans break angels.

He was falling. He could feel himself slipping away. Did it matter anyway if he was an angel or a demon? He was already in hell without Calise: might as well make it permanent.

Being an angel didn’t make Calise love him enough to stay with him, so maybe if he became a demon, Nara wouldn’t leave him.

That was something. Right?

****

Lucas forced himself to take deep breaths as he crossed the dirt road to the restaurant. Then he was barely able to stomach the lunch that Jody placed in front of him with a not so subtle wink.

“
Gracias
,” he murmured to her before exchanging a quick hello with the regulars.

He let his mind wander to the pleasant memory of Cali in his hammock, her eyes fluttering with sleep. As he was taking his last sip of coffee, Carmen appeared and tossed a newspaper down on his table with last night’s murder of the girl and the disappearance of her family as the headlining story. “Did you see the paper this morning? What the hell happened?”

“The demons happened. They know what I am; they killed the women and got away. They’ve left me alive for the ambassador, apparently.” He prepared for the onslaught he rightly deserved.

Carmen’s face betrayed her. Anger mingled with terror. She sat down across from Lucas slowly, without taking her eyes off him. “They’re already on their way here, then? It’s not just your life that matters here. There is more at stake than you know. Get to Playa Cabo Blanco.
Ahora.
Now.”

He crossed his arms and leaned forward. “No,
Tía.
I don’t mean any disrespect, but the only reason the demons escaped me was because I was trying to protect the women. I can handle whoever comes here for a fight. You know I can. What don’t I know?”

“Demons will forever hunt our kind and this family. We have something they want, and I pray they never find us. Alejandro will help us.”

“The angel who failed me last night? We don’t need him.”

“Yes, we do. He’s been helping our family for a very long time.”

As far as Lucas knew, the two necklaces he wore around his neck from his parents were the family’s only weapons to fight demons. Lucas had only wanted to come here and disappear, until last night. Maybe he’d left one sinking ship to board another one coming into battle. “What do we have besides the necklaces?” he asked.

Carmen shook her head. “There’s no time to explain. Go to the beach at Cabo Blanco. Alejandro is there, find him. Please, trust me.”

“Fine, but one more thing,” Lucas stood. “What do you know about the girl staying at the Howler Monkey Resort? I pulled her out of the ocean during a surf lesson gone bad. She might be a seer.”

“If there is another seer here, however dilute, let’s hope she leaves before all hell breaks loose.”

“Well, you can tell her that. Here she comes.” Lucas watched Cali slide into a chair near the front of the restaurant with Ron seated across from her. Her eyes locked on his while Ron waved and called a greeting to Carmen.

“Let me handle her. You get to Playa Cabo Blanco—and hurry.” Carmen grabbed two menus and went to their table.

Lucas watched the women exchange a few words. Carmen turned and headed back to the kitchen, giving Lucas a quick nod.