My Soul to Save (Soul Keeper) (23 page)

"You're supposed to be protecting me and instead you left me alone with the two guys who are capable of murdering me in seconds."

"You weren't alone, Will was there."

"No Will was upstairs with Sam. I was alone with Elijah while you two were defiling my grandmother's bed."

"Again Brennen we're sorry. We got married on the way to home and..."

"What, when did this happen?"

"We let you sleep in Amorous for a couple of hours while your mother officiated. And we knew Elijah was here. We can hear very well, in case you hadn't noticed. Speaking of, Sam is coming to check on you, we'd better go." My arms fly up in anger. I shut the door and notice Sam has just rounded the column that separates the kitchen from the living area.

"Crazy morning hm?" He asks pulling me into his arms in the privacy of the entry way.

I nod into his chest and give his waist a squeeze. We walk back into the living room and there sit my four angels. Jesson and Elena are no longer visible, and they are carring a conversation with Will. Elijah looks humored at my turmoil again.

"How bout we go to IHOP and then go get a tree? I don't really have an appetite just yet."

"I'll follow you anywhere."

"Elijah, you can make yourself at home while we're gone. I'm sure your tired from your long flight from LA."

Sam and I go to the garage where I forget, my shiny red porche is parked.

"Whoa sweet, is this his car?" Roll with it.

"Yep, he's loaded alright."

Sam get's into my Beetle and I give the entourage of angel's a warning look before I slide in. I blink into the other realm. "Will and Elena in the backseat, the rest of you can find your own way there." I blink back and slide in.

"You okay babe? You seem a little tense."

"Sorry, I'll be in a better mood once I have some coffee in me." He laughs and turns the radio station to Christmas music.

"This always helps too." He says softly while brushing his untamable hair back.

Baby it's Cold Outside
, comes on and Sam and I sing it together. It does put me in a better mood. We sound kind of great together. His twang is heard in every up-beat, and it makes me love him that much more.

Sam wears soft plaid flannel in the winter and I like that he doesn’t care that it’s not in style. He and Elijah are night and day about so many different things. I wonder how I can love two people so deeply who are so different from one another.
I glance in the back seat and make my own point. Elena and Jesson are snuggled up looking like the newlyweds they are. They are such polar opposites they practically spark every time they touch.

At the grocery store Elijah walks behind our buggy, talking to me from the red sky realm.
He knows I can’t respond and push a cart at the same time.

“I enjoyed your song in the car. Maybe you should go down the chocolate chip aisle and we could bake something together this weekend.” He says it provocatively low in my ear and Elena
smacks him on the arm. “What?” he says, and I catch him flashing his gorgeous smile at Elena. A twinge of jealousy plays on my lips.

“You’re here to save Sam, nothing else. I’m sure I don’t need to explain the gravity of the situation to you. And if Sam’s life is in danger, you can bet your pretty litt
le head that your precious girlfriend’s is too. So quit playing around and be alert.”

I sigh out, and to Sam, it’s for no reason. He rubs my shoulder, probably unsure of how to help. I long for the days when I didn’t know they existed or at least couldn’t hear them.

“Way to go Elena, now you’ve freaked her out.” Jesson scolds.

“Hey Sam
, would you mind grabbing some eggnog? I forgot to pick it up when we passed the milk.”

“You bet.”

As soon as he’s out of sight and the aisle is empty, I turn around. Do you have any idea what it does to my human mind to have four Keepers following me around a grocery store bickering in my ear? Going a little nuts here people!” I push a gush of air through my nose. “And you.” I stab Elijah’s chest with my finger. “You…” Damn it, he’s done it again I can’t even finish my sentence. What was I going to say? His soft full lips have captured all of my attention. “Stop doing that!”

He tries not to smile but only winds up making himself look even sexier. I give up. I throw a bag of chocolate chips in the cart because
, why they heck not? Even though he’s behind me, I can feel him smiling. I shake my head at his audacity. 

After the grocery store, Sam and I pull into the tree lot. Row after row of evergreens vie for a new home. A strong wind blasts from the north, and chills me right through my jacket. Sam pulls up behind me and wraps the front flaps of his jacket around me,
zipping me inside with him.

“Better?”

“Are you kidding this is the best place on earth.” The warmth from his chest has heated the inside of the jacket to toasty. “I guess you’ll get to pick out the tree.”

“Piece of cake.”

“Hardly, Christmas is in four days. These trees are the kids that didn’t get picked for dodge ball.” He picks one up and examines it, finding a large gaping hole on the flip side.

“They key to last minute tree shopping is to find the best of the worst.” We continue on, walking in an awkward waddle that only a human burrito can manage. 

We finally settle on a tree that has small holes all over like a giant moth attacked it. Sam has me wait in the warm car while he mounts it to the roof.

“Have you already picked out a present for Sam?”

“I never had time to shop. I guess I’ll go into town tomorrow.”

“Perfect, we’ll let the guys all stay behind
,” Elena says before kissing Jesson on the lips.

Sam slides in, bringing a blast of cold air with him that cuts right through my heated car.

“Storm must be coming.”

“Yeah that’s what the attendant said. It’s going to be pretty nasty out tonight and all day tomorrow. It’s too bad, I was thinking about inviting Jesson and his girlfriend over tonight, we could have a tree trimming party. Well if that’s okay with you, I mean it’s your house.”

“Maybe it won’t be that bad where we are. We’ll see.”

There’s not a drop of color in the sky. It looks as if someone switched our TV channel to black and white. Clouds darken as we near the house, hanging over Sandbridge beach like a black pillow ready to suffocate the life out of us. I unload the groceries while Sam drags our derranged looking tree into the house.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I fish it out while balancing a load of food in my arms. Emily's pretty face lights up my screen.

"Hey Em's, hows Denmark?"

"Oh my gosh it's gorgeous for Christmas, I wish you could see it."

"So your parents flew down to spend the holiday's with you?"

"Yes, they haven't had a vacation in years, so I made them come."

I don't dare mention that Jesson got married, I know she still has a thing for him. I unload the bags while still on the phone with her. He's was on his way to see her when my dilema side tracked him. With his new nuptual status, he's decide to stay here for Christmas.

"So you have Sam all to yourself for two weeks, how's that going?"

"It's going."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing really we haven't exactly had much alone time." I stare out at the angels seated around my living room. Elijah is the only one who meet's my eyes, his laced with hurt. His emotion is instantly transfered over to me and I feel tears begining to well in my eyes.

"Oh, did his family come down too or something?"

"No not exatly. Hey, I'm sorry to cut you off but Sam's trying to set up the tree and he needs my help." My voice cracks as I speak. Emily hears it and goes quiet for a moment.

"Okay, well call me later. Take care."

"Bye Em's"

Sam stuffs the tree into the base and I hold it while he tightens the screws. Elijah gives me an apologetic glance.

"Can we talk later?" he asks. I nod my head while Sam is still fiddling with the tree.

The waves outside have gained a fury with the increase in wind, they pound relentlessly against the shore, never giving an inch, only taking, growing stronger with every punch.

Sam found the boxes of decorations and lights. Once again, he tunes the stereo to Christmas music and dials Jesson. Who answers his phone while lounging on my sofa. I shake my head.

"Hey man, Brennen and I are going to have a little get together tonight. Do ya'll want to come over? I know the weather is supposed to get ugly."

"How about we come early before it hits."

"Sounds good man."

"Will decorate for cheesecake!" Elena spouts off, laughing after. Elijah's lids lower at the very mention of baking. Well, if you can't beat them join them I always say.

*~*~*~*

Since tonight’s dinner doesn’t involve a grill, I put Sam out of his misery, and let him go watch football upstairs. Elijah’s dicing the celery for stuffing balls, a recipe we found in my grandmother’s box of all things delicious.

I’m just pulling a cheesecake out of the oven when he turns to me. I avert my eyes and set down the hot pan before those damn blue orbs suck me in and I burn myself –again.

“What’s this one?” He asks referring to my myriad of cheesecake flavors.

“Eggnog, topped with Cinnamon streusel.”
I say still avoiding his eyes. He licks his lips and my gaze automatically darts to his moistened lips like a lion locked in on its next meal.

“I can’t wait to try it.” Is what I think I he said, but I’m lost in his features, my lower back is pressed into the back counter and he’s already so close I can feel the heat emanating from his sweater. I swallow hard as if there’s a large marble stuck in my throat. I reach behind me and grab the spoon from the batter, a peace offering.

He eyes it for a moment and then takes it from me and licks it clean in one taste. He draws his lower lip into his mouth to catch a drop, and my body ticks toward his imperceptibly. But he notices, he always notices. His lips are on mine a second later, his body presses me against the counter firmly, leaving no wiggle room. His tongue, tasting like vanilla and spices, slips in my mouth and caresses mine –delicious.

Sam is just upstairs
, my subconscious blasts me. I pull away, ashamed. He runs a thumb over my chin, his eyes search mine trying to understand. I can’t even comprehend the situation, so I don’t see how he possibly could. He slips me a small smile and somehow it’s reassuring. He goes back to his stuffing balls, and I continue what I was doing, I think I’ll remember just what that was in a moment.

*~*~*

The doorbell rings, and Sam goes to answer it while I pull a ham out of the oven. The group shuffles into the kitchen. Bouquets of cinnamon, cloves, and all things Christmas permeate the room. I remember having Elena here last year during this time. It's hard to believe how much we've turned into this weird but stable family unit.

"I hope you don't mind, we brought a friend with us. The big guy is Will, and this is his girl friend Inara. They were just passing through town and rather than miss catching up with them, we figured the more the merrier."

"You figured right, I'm glad to have this old house filled with friends, you all are the only family I have now and I love you all."

My words move them to hug me, and each comforting embrace puts me in a better mood. Lastly, Elijah pulls me in, and his scent sinks me under like a rip tide. It carries my mind to far away places like a hammock in Amorous
, and glorious kisses that lasted for days.

He releases me all to soon, and I stand there dazed, still wrapped in the memory. "Babe, should we let everyone eat now?"

I snap out of my day dream and quickly respond, "Yes of course, please dig in." The kitchen island is filled with a miriad of appetizers and desserts. Elijah and I were alone in the kitchen most of the day while Sam watched football upstairs. It was just like old times. He shoots me a wink as everyone fills their plate, everyone but him.

I loud crack of thunder rattles the windows. The power goes out a second later.

“No worries, Brennen you have candles here someplace right?” Elijah asks.

“Yes, nothing more romantic than a candlelight Christmas dinner.” I blush at my choice of words, thankfully its too dark to see.

“I’ll help you find them.” Elijah follows me into the garage. I grab a flash light and he does the same.

“Do you think Malphas is going to do something now that he knows you disobeyed?” I ask as we shuffle through the twelve junk drawers that line the back wall of the garage.

“I think retaliation is high on his to-do list. But don’t worry, you’re safe inside this house, I cast a protection hedge over it.”

Just as he says those words, a loud shatter of glass rings out from inside the house. Elijah and I run back inside to find the cause.

There’s glass everywhere, a large palm tree from the yard, is lying in my living room.