Elixxir (The Brethren Series) (16 page)

Feathers shimmered in the fading sunlight as the setting sun peeked through the curtains and cast a golden glow over his body. Mesmerized, she had to touch those wings again. Reaching out, she saw them tremble around her, as though they sensed her approach. She decided to be a little devilish and, with her touch, bring him to the brink of rapture. Light swipes and flicks to different areas of his wings brought about spasms that wracked his entire body. He cried out while clutching her fiercely to him, and she smiled deep inside, completely satisfied knowing she’d brought this kind of pleasure to him.

But another kind of release begged to be set free, and Nathanael’s heated gaze told her she’d play a major part in that. She met him with boldness, and winked. He smiled back and rubbed his hands from her shoulders down to her wrists. As he made the return trip, he lifted her arms to rest above her head. He rose above her and kissed each palm delicately, then continued to feather kisses lightly down one arm until he met her neck, where he suckled and flicked his tongue. Her arms involuntarily lowered a bit, but he returned them to their position and worked his way down her body, inch by excruciating inch. No spot remained untouched by his hands, his lips, or his tongue.

“You taste so good.” He’d returned his attentions to her ear and growled softly. “Like ambrosia, you are. Food of the gods. I can’t get enough of you.” He gathered her up in his arms and pressed his need against her. “I’ll have you for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

“Have me now.” She opened for him, grabbed his muscled ass, and guided him inside her.

How had she ever lived before this? Making love with Nathanael went beyond any fantasies she’d dreamt of, and those usually came from romance novels anyway. As he glided and thrust in and out of her, she felt complete and bereft, turn for turn. He quickened the pace and the tingling low in her body grew exponentially until she lost all sense of time and place. All thought left her and only sensation remained until at last, she shuddered and climaxed with him a moment later. He collapsed on top of her. Managing to stay inside, he rolled onto his back, bringing her atop to ride out the remaining waves of ecstasy.

“Miss Ariana Kupi,” he said, and kissed the top of her head. “I declare you very much alive.”

“Are you sure?” She cuddled closer. “Because I think I died and went to heaven.”

A low rumble of laughter shook her and she nearly teetered off of him. But he secured her in place, and they spent a good, long while in contented silence. As her body cooled, she realized all of her things were still at the spa. Her bag, her phone, her clothes, her disguise. How would she get them back? She lifted her head up and looked at her warrior.

“Nate, my stuff is still in the spa locker. I need to get it back.”

“We can go together. I’ll shield us. Remember, tied at the hip. You and me.” He grabbed her around her waist and gave a little thrust.

“Mmmm. Yeah, I got that memo. Here’s my response.” She pushed herself up and sat astride, laughing and ready for more of what her angel had in store.

***

Shielding and getting them both back to the spa was the easy part. Opening the locker proved difficult. There were cops everywhere, but no sign of the receptionist. They’d have to wait for them to clear out of the locker room area before he allowed Ariana inside.

“What are we waiting for? The locker is right here in front of us,” she whispered in his ear.

It sent shivers down his spine and he frowned at her. “Hey, stop doing that. I’m already keyed up from seeing all the cops here. I don’t need you sending me over the edge. And by the way, you don’t have to whisper. As long as you’re holding on to me, everything about us is cloaked.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know. So why are we waiting? If you can cloak everything you touch….”

“Yeah, well, nothing’s perfect and I don’t want the entire police force puzzling over why a particular locker area looks funky. It shouldn’t be too much longer. I heard a couple of them talking and one said they should be home in time for dinner.”

“Speaking of dinner…I’m starving! Can we get something after we get my stuff?”

“Sure. I’m sorry. I’m used to going for hours and hours without food, so I tend to forget about others’ eating habits.”

“Hey, they’re leaving. Look.” She pointed to the throng of police making their way out of the spa.

“Perfect. Now we make our move.” He leaned his hand against the door. “Open it.”

“Wait a minute.” She stood there for a moment with a puzzled look on her face and then smiled. “Okay, I remember the number sequence. Whew!”

With a couple of punches on a keypad, the door clicked open and she began to take out her belongings.

“Hey. When did you get this?” He reached in and pulled out a floppy hat.

“Oh, I bought it earlier at one of the gift shops. Can I have it, please?” She made a grab for it a little too quickly for his liking and he snatched it away before she succeeded.

“That’s okay. I’ll hold it while you get the rest of your things out.” He thought he saw a bit of trepidation on her face and watched as she pulled out the rest of the items from the locker. As she did so, he let his senses do the walking all over the hat. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her, but he didn’t…trust anyone. What had she done while he was away?

She went out. There’s tension here. Holy shit, she went to Murati’s Curiosity Shop
!
Why the hell did she do that
?
And when
?
While we were there, we didn’t see her or anyone come through the door. There’s more. She intends to bring Murati down and laid the groundwork while she visited there. Satisfaction. Mmmm. And fear. Son of a bitch
!
He saw her
.

“Are you insane, woman? Isn’t it bad enough that Murati wants you out of the picture? Oh no, you have to go and give yourself to him on a silver platter!” He fumed, and forgetting all about the shielding, he let go of her to scrub his face, rendering them both visible and audible to the world. He slammed his hand against the metal locker, denting it.

She shrank back and winced.

“Damn it! Why couldn’t you stay in the room like a good girl, like a reasonable woman, like I told you? You had me thinking the whole time that it was my fault you nearly got killed today. Mine! When all the time you knew your inability to control your impulses was really to blame. Do you really want to live, Ariana? Because I’m getting the distinct impression here that you don’t.”

He paced like a lion ready to pounce on his prey, while a bullet train of energy coursed through his veins. If he didn’t leave now, he would destroy the room. And he didn’t know if he could protect her from his rage.

She didn’t say a word. She just stood there, shrinking more and more into the wall with a look of utter shock and guilt on her face. But he couldn’t stop himself.

“Take your stuff and go back to the room. Or don’t. I’m getting the fuck out of here.” He threw the hat on the floor and left her where she stood. He didn’t know where to go, but bad guys were gonna fall tonight.

Ariana stood, stupefied. He’d held her hat and found out what she’d done. She deserved everything he’d said. All of it. And more. How would she ever make this up to him? An apology seemed inadequate. Looking back, she’d put the whole operation in jeopardy with her silly notion of bringing Uncle Eddie down by herself. She didn’t consider the consequences of her actions with regards to the Elixxir and the Brethren. What if she’d blown the whole thing to smithereens? Could she be sent to Hell for this?

“Are you all right, dearie?” Two elderly women with concerned looks on their faces shuffled over to her. One rested a hand on her arm. “We were walking by when we saw that big brute of a man yell at you and blast his way out of here. He didn’t hurt you, did he? We could get the police for you.”

“No! No, he didn’t hurt me. And his bark is worse than his bite. It’s really my fault he’s so angry. But thank you. I appreciate you coming over and checking. I’m gonna go up to the room now. I think that’s enough excitement for one day.” She patted the woman’s hand and smiled as she left the two to their inevitable prattle.

That’s where I should have been all along
.

Chapter Fourteen

The sun had set a couple of hours ago and Ariana had shredded a whole box of tissues with worry over her angel’s state of mind. He hadn’t called or been back since the debacle in the spa. She’d ordered room service when she’d gotten back upstairs, but it sat, mostly untouched. After mutilating the last napkin, she opted for strangling a hand towel while pacing the floor.

Voices in the hall had her on alert, and then a knock on the door sent her scrambling to the bathroom to hide.

“Hey, Nathanael! It’s Gabriel and Yofi. Open up.”

Feeling like a fool, she got out of the tub, unlocked the bathroom door, and opened the room’s door to awaiting angels. “Hi, come in. Nate’s not here at the moment.” She closed the door and continued. “I’m Ariana.”

“Yes, we know. I’m Gabriel. This is Yofi. We’re colleagues of Nathanael’s.”

“I know all about it, Gabriel. You don’t have to pretend around me. Congrats on the new job, Yofi.”

The Brethren looked at each other and back at her. “What exactly do you know?”

“You’re angels and you fight Evil while protecting us humans. Don’t worry about me knowing, though. Raphael and Serena are close friends of mine, and your buddy, Kemuel, and I were a thing a ways back. Not anymore, though, so make sure you remember that. Anyway, your buddy’s not here, and I don’t know when he’s gonna be back because he’s gone MIA, probably looking for all kinds of trouble, thanks to me.” She took a breath and took a drink of water.

The two behemoths, one in a suit and the other in leather pants and T-shirt, sat down on the bed looking none too pleased.

“Okay. Start talking. What happened?”

***

Nathanael rode his Harley hard around Las Vegas looking for the seediest parts of town. Evil would pay heavily tonight. He stopped in front of a dive bar down some street he didn’t even know. Men stood outside smoking cigarettes and joints, talking trash about women. In the bar, he could hear others arguing over how to tell the difference between a “he/she” and a real woman. He drove on.

After countless turns and stops he finally came across a convenience store. Its occupants were currently robbing the place at gunpoint. He swaggered through the door to the chorus of screams from the clerks. One of the robbers turned his gun on him.

“Hey, man! Keep on walking and empty your pockets on the counter. Now!”

“I don’t think so, asswipe.” Nathanael kept walking toward the man. Disregarding the bullets making holes in his T-shirt, he punched him square in the jaw and grabbed the gun out of his hand. He punched him a second time and smiled as he watched him slump to the floor.

“What the fuck?” The second man stalked over with his semi-automatic pointing straight at the Brethren’s heart. “I’m gonna make you wish you were never born, asshole.”

“And I’ll make sure history
shows
you never were.”

The Warrior taunted and waved him to approach. Instead, the thief chose to charge him and unload his magazine. Bullets shredded the remaining bits of his T-shirt and were quickly absorbed into his skin, like the others. Shock and horror washed over the guy’s face. In a crazed and desperate move, he tossed the gun at him and backed up.

“Whoa! Whoa! Who the hell are you?”

Nathanael stepped forward, picked up the scrawny cokehead by his neck, and lifted him high in the air with his left hand. “I’m the last one your poor excuse for a life is gonna see before you die and go to Hell. Remember my name when you get there. It’s Nathanael. Tell Satan you’re number one.”

“Wha—” But before the thug could finish his thought, Nathanael unsheathed his sword and threw the man up in the air. As his body descended, the angel pivoted and sliced right through his neck. More screams and shouts erupted as the sales clerks ran out of the store.

The ancient inscription on the sword glowed fiery orange-red, and the blade soaked up the blood that coated the length of it. Nathanael’s arms shook violently as electricity shot through every cell of his body. Rapture blinded him and he fell to his knees. Tears streamed down his cheeks. As his adrenaline rush slowly subsided, he hung his head and said, “Now for number two.”

***

“That was you in the store? I saw you! I was shielded, hoping to find Murati or at least sense where he went and if he took the Elixxir. You were messing with the computer up front while granny was in the back looking for something.” Yofi shook his head and laughed.

“Yes, that was me. I’m not ashamed to say I framed him for embezzlement and ran out of there. I’m so sorry if I screwed things up for you. Haven’t had a chance to apologize to Nate, though.”

“Don’t worry, I got the information we need to move forward.”

“You know where the Elixxir is?” Finally, a break for the good guys, Ariana thought.

“Yup. It’s with Murati. He’s got it in his pocket, and he plans on going to a show this evening.”

“So now all we have to do is find Nate and you can get it back from my murdering uncle. Can you figure out where he is?”

“Well, normally, we have open lines of contact between us, but there are times when we put up walls for privacy. He’s blocked us. That’s why we came all the way here instead of using telepathy.”

“Damn it. I’m worried about him.” She pounded her fist on the bedside table. “When he left me…. Let me put it to you this way. I wouldn’t want to be the fool to cross his path. He could cause some serious damage to a lot of people out there. I’m afraid he’s gone on a rage-filled bender.”

Gabriel stood, an imposing, towering skyscraper. “What exactly are you saying? You’re making him out to be some kind of violence junkie. He’s a bounty hunter and a Brethren Warrior. Violence is his job.”