Hunting Angel 2 (12 page)

“It’s open,” called a voice from inside.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” I whispered. “I better come out of here alive,” I warned unable to shake this eerie vibe.

Chase grinned devilishly. “Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“I left it at home with my common sense,” I replied surly.

The decrepit door creaked like an old woman as Chase pushed it open. When we looked inside the air swirled with dust particles through a tiny stream of light. The uneven floorboards groaned as Chase walked over the threshold. His body was taunt and on alert, looking for anything out of the ordinary. He might be here for answers, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t cautious. Chase was always on guard.

It was just one of his many annoying traits.

“In the back,” yelled the voice again. It was deep and sounded like aged wine. Maybe he was as old as this dump.

I followed close behind Chase. Possibly too close. I could smell him over the musty, pine scent. Sexy. Wicked. Yummy. Unable to help myself, I inhaled deeply, forgetting where we were or why we were here.

He stopped abruptly right outside a doorway, and I bumped ungracefully into him, the whole arms flailing deal. “Did you just sniff me?” he asked with a lazy grin.

I regained my balance. “And if I did?”

He just shook his head and stepped through the door. The room wasn’t exactly what I’d been expecting. Papers were scattered haphazardly on top a large mahogany desk. And the man behind the desk was an even bigger shock. He was maybe in his forties, with brown wavy hair, a day’s growth covered his face, and…he was smoking hot for an old dude. Gently smiling, he indicated for us to take a seat in the two chairs.

I didn’t move.

“Angel, you can close your mouth now,” Chase whispered in my ear, pulling me from my gawking state.

I gave him an evil glare from the corner of my eye, and then planted my butt in front of the massive desk. Trying to ignore my flushing cheeks, I glanced at the rest of the room. Framed maps lined the walls along with a whole lot of other ancient mumble jumble.

“Wow. I was skeptical when Magnolia called.” I said, looking me over. I assumed Magnolia was Sierra’s mom. His green eyes brimmed with wonder. “You really do ooze his signature. Could I possibly see the marks?”

“I don’t do show and tell,” I snapped. No matter how hot Ives might be, I wasn’t ready to lift up my shirt for any yahoo.

“Not going to happen,” Chase refused, echoing my rude remark. “You’ll just have to take our word for it. They’re there and identical.”

“I can tell you it burned like a mother,” I said, offering that little tidbit. The memory still tortured me some nights, even some days. It was the kind of pain I never wanted to feel again. The marks were unique to the demon bloodlines. You could tell which demon had sired the half-breed by the mark they were born with. Travis and Lexi share the same symbol – the same demon blood.

Ives reclined from the desk, putting his hands behind his head. “Hmm. That sounds about right. It’s been quite some time since I have seen a bond such as yours – one linking a human with a half-demon. I will answer any questions that I can, but I must warn you, I am no expert. It’s a phenomenon few understand and grasp even less.”

Goodie gumdrops
. It was our lucky day.

“But wow, what the two of you have is strong,” he added.

Chase cut the friendly pleasantries. “How about you start with what you do know,” he prompted, not entirely impressed with Ives. He was such a cynic.

Ives palm tree green eyes twinkled. “Well there are three various bonds. If the information I’ve gathered over the years is accurate, yours is a soulbond – a linking of souls. It is believed that the circumstances surrounding the connection play into factor as to the kind of link that is shared between the two involved. There must be an extremely strong desire for the completion to take place and also a sacrifice from the half-demon. Do you have any idea what your sacrifice was?” he asked Chase.

“Yeah, my sanity,” he mumbled under his breath.

I kicked him.

Chase raised a curious brow at me.

Finding humor in our behavior, Ives lips turned up at the corners. He folded his hands together on top of the desk. “Well, I can draw my own conclusions. Getting back to the connection…There is a contingent to the bond. The more time you spend together, the stronger your bond will become.”

Oh crap on a stick
.

I chewed on my bottom lip. “What do you mean by time?” I asked.

His clear green eyes met mine. “From what I’ve learned, each moment you are together tightens the link between you. Even just being in the same house, the same school can strengthen the connection.”

“Errr, what about being neighbors? Is there a radius on this together aspect? Are we talking few feet, a few miles?” I asked.

“Hmm, good question. I take it you live next to each other?”

We nodded in unison.

“I can’t pinpoint an exact distance. It doesn’t work that way, but it is something that I would tell you to experiment with. A few miles would be my guess,” Ives informed.

“So by us being neighbors…” I began, trying to put together the pieces and wrap my head around this. “We are potentially forging our connection to each other without trying?”
Dear God
.

“Potentially – yes. From what I can sense…most definitely,” Ives confirmed with a serious expression.

Chase groaned and I squeaked.

After a few moments of sinking silence I heard Chase ask, “What happens if we are separated?”

The computer screen on his desk flickered black from inactivity. “Well, for short periods of time – nothing. It’s the long timeframes that you need to worry about. The tighter your link to each other is, the harder a separation can be, even crucially painful. It starts out with just a tightness in the chest and then progresses to difficulty breathing, only to get worse and worse the more drawn out the length is.”

Pure panic filled me. Chase reached over and twined our fingers together, offering me comfort. There he went again, trying to be sweet. But this time, it was appreciated and effective. The alarm I felt moments ago dissipated.

“Enough to kill us?” Chase asked what was in both our thoughts. Had he saved me, only to possibly send us both to the grave?

Ives tapped the end of a pencil on the desk. “Not that I have ever seen, but it can weaken you to the point of death.”

“Well that sounds fun…maybe if you were sadistic,” I mumbled.

Ives mouth twitched. I could tell he was amused by me. Who could really blame him? I was just a ball of sunshine.

Ives pushed up the sleeves of his black cardigan. “Let’s do a little test, shall we?” he sprung on us sounding like a scientist.

“I’m a sucky lab rat,” I assured Ives.
A test
? I didn’t like the sound of that and by the stiffening of hothead beside me, neither did he. We were both afraid of what the conclusions might be.

“I couldn’t help but notice how upset you got Angel when I mentioned the pain you could encounter if kept apart. Then Chase, you reached for her hand. Why?”

Chase angled his head and looked at him calculatedly, like he was trying to figure out his angle. “I was trying to offer her comfort,” he replied, shrugging like it was no big deal.

“And Angel, did it work? Was he able to take away the fear you were feeling?”

I looked from Ives to Chase feeling exposed. “Maybe.”

Ives grinned. “I’ll take that as a yes. What I think neither of you realized is the depth of the connection that is already in motion.” His eyes sought Chase’s. “Chase you can feel Angel’s emotions, what she is feeling and in return act on what her emotions are telling you. When you touch her, you take away her pain, her fear, and give her comfort, solace. She can also offer the same to you. Together, the two of you are indirectly responsible for the other’s well-being, for their happiness.”

Neither of us looked convinced – or thrilled by this revelation.

I scowled, not liking the path this conversation was taking. I seemed to find myself more and more attached to Chase – without even trying.

“What are you feeling now Angel?” Ives asked quietly.

“Like I want to stab him,” I answered, attempting boredom.

“And Chase…”

A hint of smirk crossed Chase’s lips. He reclined in his seat like he didn’t have a care in the world, except of course for the little tick in his neck. It was little things like that I noticed and maybe more... He wasn’t any happier about our little experiment than I was. At least we were in agreement on something. “Like she is stabbing me,” he replied.

I rolled my eyes.

“Good. This is good.”

Oookay
. How he thought this was good was mind boggling.

“Now I want you to take her hands,” Ives instructed.

Chase looked at him from across the desk like the man was insane. “So she can bite my head off. No way. I’m not stupid. I don’t see what the point of this is,” Chase argued, clearly not feeling this little
test
.

Ives lifted his brow challenging him. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a quitter.”

Ding. Ding. Ding. Thanks Ives for pushing Chase’s manhood button. Of course he wasn’t going to back away from the test now. Turning in his chair toward me, he held out his hands. I didn’t move and kept my arms crossed. No one said I had to cooperate in this twisted game.

“Angel,” Chase growled.

This was stupid. My eyes were like little blue flames as they attached with his. There were tiny specks of gold breaking through the icy silver. “Fine,” I spat and laced my fingers with his, expecting nothing to happen, except many more irritation. I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Or maybe I was being difficult because I was more afraid of what would happen.

The instant his skin touched mine, a cool wash of calm overcame me. I knew I should have been annoyed, but I couldn’t think past Chase touching me, watching me so intently with those silvery eyes. Maybe if I was made of stone, instead of the pile of mush he turned me into.

“Did I mention that I hate tests,” I said sulking, my eyes still captured in his.

Ives chuckled from behind his desk. “Success I presume.” He seemed to be enjoying this a little too much. It was kind of warped in my mind. He propped his elbows on the desk. “With that out of the way, let me ask you…have you noticed any additional attention Angel? Like making more friends or guys suddenly noticing you?”

“Errr, maybe,” I replied, thinking about Brody and a few others. I wasn’t sure I was going to like where this was heading.

“You know that Divisa ward off human contact, but Angel in your case, it seems you give off the opposite – you attract them.”

Chase straightened in his chair, ears perked and attention at full alert. “You’ve got to be shitting me. Is this some kind of cruel joke?”

“Afraid not,” Ives reassured with just a hint of a smile, knowing very well what was going through Chase’s head. “At least until the bond is fully complete. That is if you decide to complete. Until that time though, she will draw all manner of attention. It’s proven to be different for each link.”

Chase frowned.

“And to think I thought it was my sparkling personality,” I said dryly.

Ives grinned, shaking his head at me. “If I was twenty years younger, I just might have given Chase a run for his money.”

I felt Chase stiffen beside me.

Did he just make a pass at me? Stranger things have happened true, but this took the cake. I was starting to like Ives. At least he had good taste.

“But something tells me that he wouldn’t let you go without a fight. I’ve heard the rumors swirling about you Chase Winters. I don’t think I would like to die just yet.”

Oh just dandy
.

His reputation preceded him.

“You mentioned that there were three kinds of bonds,” Chase said, moving things back to safer ground. I’d forgotten that little bit of info.

Ives nodded in affirmation. “Yes the triforce. We have already distinguished soulbond which is what you two have. There is also heartbond and bodybond.”

Interesting. I’d like to know how the others varied from ours, but Chase rattled off another question before I had a chance to ask.

“Is there a way to break the bond?” Chase asked, moving right on. I figured he didn’t even want to touch upon Ives harmless flirtation.

My heart rate went through the roof. Chase’s gaze slid to mine, and I knew he could sense my panic. This whole emotion sharing thing sucked big time.

“Death,” Ives said simply.

Well that put the atmosphere in a somber mood. My expression fell just as Chase’s phone rang. He excused himself and walked to the back of the room.

“I don’t know if I envy him or pity him,” Ives commented in a low voice.

“I can’t decide if I should be flattered or offended,” I retorted.

He laughed, his eyes crinkling at the ends. It was a pleasant sound. “I can see why he made such a vast sacrifice. Most of our kind don’t socialize with outsiders. Not to say it doesn’t happen, but it’s less complicated if we don’t. That said, I don’t know if there is another girl with the gall to stand up to Chase. He is enamored by you and you with him.” He lounged back in his chair, twirling a pencil between his fingers. “To truly keep the other safe, you must bind more than just your souls – soulbond isn’t enough. You need to complete the triforce – Heart. Body. Soul.”

“Heart, body, and soul?” I mumbled confused.

“You got it. Otherwise, forces beyond your control will make it next to impossible to survive as you are, sort of in limbo. You aren’t human, but you are tied to a half-demon. There are other things as well, abilities that could have been transferred from Chase. Your bond was forged by desperate love. Love is powerful. Don’t under estimate its strength.

Stop the presses
. There was too much going on in his words. He had me bouncing from left to right. What I did get was…he thought Chase loves me. I might have powers, and something about us being binding our heart, body, and soul. Was that something other than what our current state was?