Possession (8 page)

Fallon curled into a ball as Julian hit him once again, this time he was barely able to moan from the ramming sensations.

“Stop! What are you doing to him?” Tonia threw herself over him in an attempt to shield him with her body.

The pain ceased and Fallon opened his eyes. He wanted to assure her, to tell her Julian only did it to keep the demon at bay, but he couldn’t speak, it was a struggle to keep breathing.

“It’s all right,” Roderick told Tonia, moving toward her. She swung at Roderick, her fist connecting with the Spartan’s jaw. Fallon would have grinned, if he didn’t hurt so badly.

“Stay away from him.” Her threat a low growl. “What kind of a doctor are you? How can you stand by and let this, this man hurt him?”

She turned away from Roderick and looked down at him, her concerned regard touching him to the core. She felt his neck to check his pulse.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Julian told Tonia.

“What?" She swung toward Julian. "That you use those powers of yours to hurt him? Yes, I understand. I know you are their leader and probably some kind of maniacal dictator.”

In spite of the aching, Fallon could not stop a chuckle. Hearing Roderick’s throat clearing, he figured the Spartan was struggling not to laugh as well.

“Let me help him to the couch,” Kieran spoke; obviously, he’d entered the room. Tonia allowed the Scot to go to him but remained close as Fallon was lifted to sit.

No sooner was he settled, she turned on Kieran. “And what kind of a partner are you? Did you not know he was in trouble?”

Pinned by her glare, the Scot froze, his wide eyes looking to Fallon and the others in a silent plea for help. Roderick only shrugged. Julian huffed indignantly and leaned on the desk. "I—I was in the kitchen eating…" Kieran gave up and looked at Fallon, his lips pressed tightly. “Logan is taking your sector tonight.”

Clearing his throat Julian got their attention. “Logan get your ass in here.” The cowboy appeared at the doorway where he’d obviously been standing and listening in. “Now everyone sit down and shut up.” He eyed Tonia, who lowered next to Fallon. Her moves deliberate, making a point that she sat only because she wanted to.
That’s
my girl
.

Fallon groaned when Julian sent a surge of energy into his head.

Shit.
He'd heard him.

Chapter 9

Obviously, Julian's vicious attacking of Fallon blinded her. Otherwise Tonia would have reacted differently to the man who stood in front of the room now. His luminescent honey brown eyes locked to hers.

If someone told her such a human existed, she’d have laughed them out of the room. A god descended from Mount Olympus could not better resemble Julian D'Arco. It was not only his beyond description good looks, but the raw power that emanated from the sizeable male.

Each movement clear, concise, and graceful, Julian crossed his arms over his chest, his face stoic, as if measuring his words. He was tall and sleek, seeming to be in his late twenties. If she’d seen him out in the street, she’d have a hard time believing the young looking male to be the great leader of an army of Protectors. He dressed casually in dark slacks and a black shirt, the top three buttons open to show a slight feathering of equally dark hair.
Very sexy, for a dictator.
The Roman could only be described as stunning. When his gaze met hers, she flushed wondering if he could read minds.

He cocked an eyebrow and reached up, pulling his shirt collar closer together and she felt her face heat.
Crap
.

The Roman's gaze scanned the room. “We have until the next full moon. You must protect Trent at all costs. Be prepared for a clash with higher levels and possibly the Master himself. I am not sure who is responsible for what is happening, but my money is on Gerard. The wily bastard may be in hiding; biding his time, he won’t be easy to find.” His attention went to Fallon, “We have to stop him, your time is limited.”

Without expression, his gaze landed on her then back to Fallon, who sat forward and put his arm in front of her, as if to provide a shield. Tonia tensed.
What now?

"Trent, you have overstepped the boundaries. I tire of having to come here, to this group, to find that most of you seem to have a hard time abiding by our laws as of late. He turned to Logan next whose eyes widened. “West spend the next few days going over the Protector guidelines. Hopefully you will not follow this group's example.”

Logan nodded eyebrows raised. "No problem."

“Now,” Julian’s attention went back to Fallon. “You’ve made a decision to not only violate one, but two of our rules. Since you’ve taken it upon yourself, with Roderick’s help,” his gazed flickered at the large male, who cleared his throat, “to not only give of your blood, but to share information about who we are with her, you will take her as your mate immediately.”

“I accept whatever punishment you deem necessary.” Fallon replied.  When she glared at him, his eyes widened. "Sorry I didn't mean that mating with you would be a punishment." Nonetheless the look of panic on his face said it all.

“What do you mean by ‘take as a mate’?” Tonia asked the Roman, who looked up at the ceiling, as if willing himself to remain calm. “If you mean what I think you mean, it's not happening.” She jumped to her feet and started for the door only to stop when a force field constricted around her body and she yelped in surprise.

A roar caught Tonia's attention and she turned to see Fallon rush at Julian, who barely moved, but somehow avoided being tackled. She gasped at the sight of Fallon’s incisors.  The long fangs extended below his bottom lip when he ran at Julian again with a loud snarl. The other Protectors spurred into action, pulling Fallon away from their leader. Through it all, Julian remained still, seeming unfazed by the display.

With one look from his leader, Fallon collapsed and groaned. “Take him over to her before he hurts himself.”

When they stood Fallon up next to her, Julian took out a dagger and neared. Tonia gasped and struggled.  Surely these men were not going to just stand there and allow the maniac to kill them?

Julian gave her a droll look. "I am not going to kill you." He took Fallon's hand and cut across his right palm and then took her hand. Unable to pull away, Tonia grimaced at the sting of the sharp blade slicing into her skin. She could only watch—stunned, unable to move a muscle as he joined their hands and after pulling a strap from his pocket, he tied their hands together, palm to palm. Then he motioned to Roderick who brought a glass bottle and an oil lamp. The flicker of the flame caught her attention and she struggled against the hold, but couldn’t budge an inch.

“Gaia accept your Gaius to be your husband and mate. Gaius take your Gaia to protect as your wife and mate.” Julian began to speak in a language she didn’t understand, and then poured oil from the decanter he retrieved from a side table over their hands. Afterwards, he held the lamp over the binding, as he continued speaking.

She stared at Fallon hoping to read what happened from his expression. His gaze met hers and she wondered at the despondency in his eyes. The poor man did not want to be tied to her, that much was obvious, and it smarted. So yeah, they only had a casual thing going, so why did his attitude hurt so much?

A burning sensation tore into her palm and she cried out while trying, without success, to pull her hand out of the binding. Fallon’s jaw tensed, but other than that, he didn’t flinch. Finally after a few moments the pain ebbed.

Julian pulled the binding strap off and went to the side table where he placed everything into an antique looking square box.  "It is done." He looked over his wide shoulder at Fallon. “I’ll see you in two weeks. Ensure you join with her or it will become painful. I'm sure that won't be a problem.” With the box under his arm, the Roman strolled past them.  The air in the room seemed to change, lighten.

The hold on her finally gone, she raised her hand to look at the palm that still throbbed. Her mouth fell open at the intricate design in the center of her palm. A symbol of sorts, almost like a Celtic pattern, was now tattooed on her hand. She reached for Fallon’s hand and saw he had the exact same pattern on his.

Dropping his hand, she remained speechless. Fallon sunk onto a nearby chair. “We’re mated,” he told her, not meeting her gaze. “I’m so sorry.”

“I don’t think it’s legal,” Tonia began but stopped when he looked up and gave her a "get real" look, she shrugged and gave up.

“This is a different world,” Fallon told her, rubbing his face with both hands. “After this binding, you and I cannot be with another, we are bound for life— you’re now my life mate.”

“Oookay, look I can tell you totally believe this. But I decide when and who I marry, not some Italian boss man with freaky powers.”

Fallon gave her a defeated look. “Fine don’t believe me, test it if you wish. Even a kiss with another will sicken you.  Especially right now, so soon after the ceremony.”

Tonia placed her hands on his shoulders. "I have a hard time understanding how you can believe all this mumbo-jumbo.  I tell you what.  Watch this." Tonia jumped up and hurried from the room, Fallon on her heels. She entered the kitchen where Logan and Kieran stood by the coffeepot. She grabbed Logan's arm and turned him to face her. "I need you to kiss me."

"Huh?" Brows scrunched the cowboy looked to Fallon who nodded.

His arms against his sides, Logan allowed Tonia to pull his head down and bring his mouth to hers.

Logan's wide eyes met his the entire time their lips were joined. Fallon could only shake his head when the beast inside growled furious, but it didn’t force him to react, seeming to understand that she needed to learn this lesson.

“Auck!” Hearing Tonia squawk, he almost laughed, but the temporary levity was lost when she ran to the nearest bathroom and began to throw up.  He followed her, not sure what she’d do next.

“What the hell was that all about?” he heard Logan asking Kieran, who laughed.

"I'm not sure, I think the bride is reluctant."

"Oh."

Chapter 10

Gerard stalked past several buildings, not bothering to search for a victim in the lighted areas. He’d spent the last few hours looking for the British Protector without avail. Seemed the male was staying home this night. Too many people were at Fallon’s house for him to flash there. 

The ability to control more than one mind at a time now took too much out of him. He wouldn't try it and fail when surrounded by Protectors. Yet another nuisance of his weaning strength

Spying a lone female walking toward her car, he flashed to her. At her startled gasp, he couldn’t help but smile. Next, she’d look at him with appreciation, noting his good looks.

The female scrutinized him and then she hit the car alarm. He growled. How could she resist him?  Hand extended, he blasted the car with an energy force deactivating the noisy blaring. The woman took a step back, preparing to run. He grabbed her arm and slammed her back against the car. Leaning into her, with his body, he was able to block any onlooker from seeing anything. She trembled, her mouth opened to scream, but was unable to when he covered it with his. Taking her ability to speak, he lifted his head and turned her head roughly to the side. Fear spiked and blood quickened, the beautiful vein at her throat pulsing, calling to him. The snap of his incisors' fast descent made the woman start. "In a moment, you will be crying out for me to take more from you."

The rich liquid flooded into him when he bit into her neck. Her blood was rich; the feisty female provided strong energy so he couldn’t stop himself from gorging. When she went limp, he was forced to stop.  He opened the car door and placed her into the seat and strapped her in to ensure she stayed upright. The woman would survive. Maybe.

He walked away. Now on to the next.

When a man turned into a darkened alley, Gerard hurried behind him, only to stop when his intended victim entered the back door of a restaurant.

Frustrated, he continued on, hoping to find someone who exited through a rear entrance for a smoke break. Moving from the side of a building, a shadow formed straight ahead and Gerard stiffened.

The air changed at the scent of leather that came from the Protector who stepped into the alley. His long duster pushed back to showcase two revolvers, the new Texas Protector completed the ensemble with western boots and a black hat. Gerard's mouth watered at the thought of drinking from an immortal.

Before he could react, shots rang out, two slugs hitting him in the chest. Gerard flashed sideways as a third whizzed past his head.

“Bullets don’t kill me idiot,” he hissed at the male, whose glowing eyes followed him, his gun pointed at him. Another bullet grazed his arm as Gerard flashed again.

“Yeah, but it’s fun to shoot you,” West replied with a lazy drawl.

Furious, Gerard drew his sword and flashed to the male, slicing down toward his throat only to be blocked by the Protector’s own blade.

The Protector’s gaze pinned him when he flashed a short distance away. He couldn’t afford a fight right now, he'd not had enough blood and the gunshot wounds didn’t help.

“What’s the matter demon, not in the mood to die?” The cowboy stepped closer, his eyes narrowing when spotting the wet stain from the bleeding on Gerard’s shirt. “Well I’ll be damned. Never seen a Master leak before.”

"You'll live to regret this." Gerard threw a dagger at the Protector as he flashed away, satisfied when he heard the Texan holler.

“Ow, shit!”