Steal Me From Heaven (29 page)

“What? I have learned endurance from Malachi, pain from Gerald, and the sword from Charles.”

“Still, you have not fought me,” he says before adding, “Did you not fight with Malachi?”

“No, he put it off and took me to Gerald instead. I was taken by Charles on the night that Malachi was to train me to fight.” He opens our door and after we pass through, he slams it shut.

“You are not prepared. I never should have trusted him to train you. Let me guess, he was so blinded by his love for you that he couldn’t harm you.” I do not answer him. He knows that he is right. “Marion, it is because I love you that I will do whatever it takes to make you strong enough to survive this war.” He removes his shirt and pants as he walks into the closet. When he returns, he is wearing a pair of tight black cotton shorts. His legs, chest, and feet are bare. In his hand, he is carrying a black case. I have learned to fear what is inside—nothing but torturous devices.

“Open your wings,” he says as he clicks open the case. I pull my dress over my head and expand my wings. He picks up a dagger and turns it around in his hands, inspecting it. “Come here.”

When I reach him, he runs his hand over my wing before inserting his fingers inside to find the first hook. Once found, he attaches the blade to my bone. He hangs another dagger equally on the other side. “Fold them in carefully.” I slowly do as he asks. It feels like something foreign is inside of me. I feel it is uncomfortable but not unbearable.

“Call them out. Do not rush.”

I grimace as my wings emerge and one dagger slices my back in the process.

“Again, back in and out.” I comply and do not cut myself this time. “Faster,” he instructs me. When he is satisfied with my ability to control my wings and not get hurt, he stops me before I fold them back in again.

“Those two are the hardest and worst daggers to maneuver. The others are of no concern for you. They will not slice you as long as you remember the way to do it properly.” He hangs the remaining blades in my feathers. The weight of the silver makes my bones ache. I fold them in and out one more time.

“Once you are used to fighting like this, I will strap on your leg and arm bands.”

“Jacob, these are silver. I could pierce your heart by accident.”

“Silver feels different and throws different than metal. I take it you learned with metal blades?”

“I only fought Charles with silver. I did not have any weapons with Gerald.”

He growls. “Not exactly a fair fight. I’m surprised that Charles let you use silver, but then again he wanted you to kill him.” I watch him go back into the closet. He calls for me to join him. Sliding a few items of clothing to the side, he opens a secret door. Weapons of all kind line the shelves and some are attached to hooks on the wall.

“This is my armory. There is also a hidden door that leads to the tunnels. If you are in a no-win situation, come here. I will find you. The wall will open with your command.” He turns and lifts my chin to face him. “Promise me, Marion, you will protect yourself if we cannot win.”

“I will not leave your side. If you want me in that room then you better bring me here yourself.”

He hisses, grabs a sword, and walks away from me. “Get ready. You will be using your wings so dress accordingly.”

When I emerge dressed in a short strapless dress, I see the window is now open. I walk over and look down. I don’t see him. Climbing out onto the ledge, I jump. The ground makes the daggers in my body jostle, and I make a note to be more careful with my movements. If I was not accustomed to pain, I would have fallen to my knees. I inhale a breath of air to pick up his scent. He is heading towards the pond. Instead of flying, I choose to run. The air would be too easy for him to spot me, and I couldn’t follow him with my nose. I slow my pace when his distinct aroma grows stronger. He is close, and he is somewhere above me. I listen for the beating of wings. The breeze is making it hard for me to pinpoint his location. I look up just in time to see him leap from a tree branch. I am not prepared. My daggers are safe in my body and out of reach.

I call out my light and shield myself from his sword as he swings it at my head. Doesn’t he know that decapitation can kill me? I grab him by his arm and flip him over the top of me. He rolls and stands up. My wings emerge, but in my excitement, I slice my back. I do not grimace so I do not warn him of my injury.

“Good try, but I can smell your blood.”

“Already healed,” I say as he runs towards me, and I grab my first dagger. I turn quickly to avoid his sword as I slice at his shoulder. He is too fast. Before I know it he is back in front of me and his blade is halfway through my side.

“You can do better,” he says as he starts to withdraw his blade.

“You’re right, I can.” I send a charged pulse his way and knock him over onto the grass. His sword is still clinging to my ribs. I do not waist my light trying to heal myself. I will need that for protection and offense. My Vampire blood will take care of my injuries. I pull the length of the sword back out of my body. With his sword in one hand and my blade in the other, I charge at him. I throw my dagger into the air. He smiles then leaps up off the ground and opens his wings outwards at the same time. He is going after my dagger. I let out a curse at my stupidity. He is smarter than Charles. I jump and give chase. When I see him stop, I see the silver flash in the moonlight. He searches for my location. When he spots me, he descends rapidly.

I mutter something foul under my breath. I have never fought in the air before tonight. He is right, I am not prepared. Drawing my sword crossways, I block his stabbing motion. When he comes
back around, I have another dagger hidden in my hand. I swing with the sword and stab into his chest with my silver blade. He smiles at me before he starts to back away. I come towards him and do not release my grip. He hisses and growls. “This isn’t a game of tag so stop acting like it,” I say as I twist my dagger upwards for emphasis.

“Careful, love. You are about to breach my heart.” I look at my wound placement in his chest. He lied, but I realize it too late. His fist hits me hard over my head, and I topple towards the earth.

“Marion.” I hear Malachi call after me right before I see a flash of white. I am covered in soft feathers. I look up and see that Malachi has caught me. When I regain my composure, I order him to put me down. We land in the thick of some trees.

“Your head is bleeding and so is your side.” He goes to touch me but I pull away. “What happened?”

“Jacob is teaching me. It’s for the best that you leave.”

“It will take him a moment to find us. I see you are training in a dress, my favorite, if you do recall. The color is lacking.”

“Black
is
a color, my favorite, if you do recall.”

“I have to hand it to the guy. I never thought to put you in something strapless, easy to pull down and easy to lift up.”

“I dress myself. I’m a grown woman.”

“I have no doubts that you are indeed all woman.”

“Malachi, stop this. I can’t protect you from him if you continue on the path you are on. He will eventually find a way to kill you and not just banish you.”

“Death would be a release.”

I gasp at his words. Jacob is right. This is not like Malachi. I am about to give him an earful when Jacob lands beside me. “You all right? I didn’t mean to hit you that hard.” I nod, but I do not look away from Malachi. “You could have trained her better, you know?” Jacob says. “I have a lot to make up for and there is very little time.”

“Then let me help.” Malachi draws all six daggers from his wings and throws them on the ground.

“You’ll need those,” I taunt him.

“I told you that I would never touch you with my weapons.”

“But how will you fight?”

“I am a warrior, you’ll see.”

“Oh, so I guess that it is two against one.”

“I don’t believe the Demons will fight you in a fair one on one fight,” Malachi says before smiling wide to expose his fangs. “If I win, I get a prize.”

I almost choke on his words.

“What kind of prize?” Jacob asks.

“Nothing he can claim anymore,” I say as I leap into the air.

Chapter 14

Around four thirty, Jacob calls it quits, and we head to the house. My black dress still looks good but it clings heavily to my body by the wet blood that is soaked up by the fabric. I cut Malachi a time or two but nothing that would be considered a death blow. Just when I think I know Jacob’s fighting style, he switches it up on me. He did not fall for the sword and dagger trick again. I was able to stab his abdomen and leg and made a cheap shot to the kidney. I do have much more to learn. Malachi is supposed to work with us again. I cannot tell Jacob what happened when he had me alone.

Jessica covers her mouth with her hand when she sees the three of us coming down the hallway. Malachi goes to her, and Jacob and I go into our bedroom. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” I hear her tell Malachi before I shut the door. It’s not his blood that is all over him. It is mine.

When I step into the shower, I do so alone. The water washes away my blood, and the faint scars appear. I know I will be completely healed when I drink blood. I will have human blood tonight. I do not wish for Jacob to know how Malachi covered me with his body and raised my dress up as his hand slid up my thigh. He softly rubbed my abdomen and dipped the tips of his fingers into my panty line before he came to his senses. I am ashamed because I did not tell him to stop. I do not know if I would have. I touch the place on my skin where I felt his hard shaft buried into my thigh. I moan as I slip my hand between my legs and close my eyes.

“What are you doing in there?” I jump at Jacob’s voice. “Would you rather be alone or should I join you?” He has the curtain open watching me. I make room for him to step in and join me. “You need blood,” he says as he sees my body.

“I crave human blood, male,” I say.

“I will have Nadia and Phillip come to our room.” He closes his eyes and opens them quickly. “They will be here in an hour. They are sleeping and need to shower.”

“How is it that you are able to do that?”

“It’s like an orchestra in my mind, and I am the conductor. When you are a stronger, older Vampire, it will be no problem for you. Now like I asked, what were you doing in here?” I go to touch him but he stops me. “That wasn’t it. It wasn’t me that you were touching.” He sits on the tile bench and stares at me. I place my foot up on the bench beside him. He does not make it very long before I am slammed against the tile wall, and he is inside me. I definitely won this one. He does not have time to bring me to climax. He takes me so hard that I feel pieces of tile shatter behind my back before they fall to the floor at our feet.

This is exactly what I needed to relieve my stress and to get my mind focused back onto Jacob. As he is about to finish, I bite his shoulder and place a small amount of pleasure hormones into him. He does not say anything. I do not think he noticed. He devours my mouth as he pumps several more times. We finish washing off and get dressed. I comb my hair and wear it wet to the dining hall. We are late enough as it is now.

When we enter, there are about twenty people seated at the table. Jacob and I stand. I notice several men that I have seen over the years. Ethan was a former knight who befriended Jacob and never betrayed him to Arthur. Gerald and Harrietta are here, as well as George, Rebecca, Jessica, and Malachi. I am introduced to David, a Fallen, and his mate, Erin, and also Vampires Trevor, Lucas, Aaron, Stephen, and Keith and Kelly, who are just about sitting on top of each other. The last Vampire is female and I notice Jacob look away from her as he says her name.

“This is Shayne.” She smiles politely enough at me, but her gaze moves all over Jacob’s body. Oh, she definitely knows my husband. Jacob takes my hand as I tense up and get ready to pound in her pretty little face.

“These are the Demons who are leading our cause.” Okay, he got my attention by saying that.

“Why will you align yourselves with us?” I ask.

“Not all of us are evil. Sure, we are made Demons because of our misdeeds but one can reform, even the damned. My name is Marcus. This is Ashley, James, and Gary.”

“How do I know you are not traitors?” I ask as I feel Jacob squeeze my hand.

“Love, they have given up a lot to be here. Please do not insult them.”

“It’s okay, Jacob. I expect her to question our loyalty. You are right, we are traitors, but to Lilith and not to you,” the man introduced as Ashley speaks. “I am new to being a Demon. My
crimes are unforgivable. I am here because my loved ones still walk this earth. I do not wish to see them perish in the eternal flames. I will not fail you.” I nod my head at him.

“I’ve given Malachi detailed plans for upcoming changes to be made for the estate. He is in charge of the battle plans.” I listen intently as Jacob continues with his commands. He informs everyone about Charles and Arthur and to sound the alarm if anyone spots them. He also warns Malachi and Gerald that their lives are in danger. Lilith will try to take them to torture the information as to where Charles’ bones are located. Malachi does not flinch. He orders one Demon and one Vampire to protect each man. I do not think that Jacob is totally trusting of the Demons either.