Wicked Destiny (6 page)

Chapter 4

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Shay was smiling as she got out of her new Camaro. 

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”

Shay ran over to hold the door open for me as I walked my bike down the hall and through my front door. I had to catch myself before I told Shay about my other two adjoining lofts, one that was a studio and one for the office. So I just parked the bike in my living room and walked to the bathroom to wash my face. When I came out, Shay made herself comfortable on my bed that I’d failed to fix before leaving. Plopping myself next to her, I kicked my shoes off and began to give her a rundown of what happened from last night until now. I left out the part about the winds and mind talking thing. I figured she dealt with enough of my freakish talents.

“Wow, so you kissed Jared?” Shay asked.

“Really?  Is that all you have to say after everything I just told you?”

“Well, it’s Jared.”

“It was a fluke. It will never happen again. Why do you think Declan is back?”

Shay slowly said, “Um, h
e bought a house.”

I turned over to look at her, fell straight off the bed
, and jumped up like nothing just happened. I glared at her and felt the heat rise from my toes and straight to the top of my head.  If this were a cartoon I’d have a whistle blowing right above my head.

“How. Do. You. Know. That!”

“He told me when I saw him.”

“You saw him? When Shay?
When did you see him?” Then realization played across my face.  “How long have you known?”

“I saw him three weeks ago when I was helping Rick with getting his business started. 
Declan was coming out of Home Depot and it was a total shock for us both.”

“Why didn’t you tell me
, Shay? Did you not think I wouldn’t see him?” I could hear the panic in my voice, because I was so not ready to see him. Then there was a knock on the door.

“Go away
!”  I screamed.  I didn’t care who it was.

Shay got off the bed and glared at me,
and then walked over to the door. Before she answered it, she turned to me.

“Not everything is about you
, Sloane. I love you. You are more like my sister than anything, but you have to let go. It’s been three years and you refuse anyone that’s worth taking a chance on.” She looked through the peep hole. “Here’s one right now.” She opened the door to let Viktor in.

“Hi, I’m S
hay and you are Viktor, right?” She held her hand out with a flirtatious smile and he took it, smiling back.

“Yes, I wa
s passing by and heard yelling. I just wanted to see if everything was alright.” He looked at me and I could tell he knew I wasn’t in the mood. 

“Well, that’s what sisters do
. They piss each other off and at the end of the day they are still sisters.” Shay smiled at me, and even though I couldn’t give myself away just yet, I knew she had her reasons. No matter what, Shay would always be my sister.

“Shay likes to spring th
ings on me at the last minute. It looks like I won’t be taking that vacation after all.”  I suddenly found my voice.

“That’s a shame.
I invited you and Sloane to my condo in Florida, but we can all go another time.”

This spiked Shay
’s attention and I couldn’t help but laugh out loud, because I could already see the wheels turning. Free room and board, days on the sand, and a concoction of drinks surrounding us.  I could see it all now myself.

“Come sit down and tell me about yourself
, Viktor. Let me interrogate you a little to see what your intentions are.” Shay pulled him to the couch as he looked at me with eyes full of terror.

While Shay talked to Viktor
, I excused myself to go take a shower. I could hear them laughing and getting along, so I knew Viktor would be safe. As the water ran over me and warmed me up from the slight chill, I began to think about Declan. Then I realized Shay didn’t finish telling me why he was here. I had to remember to ask after Viktor left. Seeing him today brought back too many raw emotions I didn’t even remember I had. I had to fight the urge to run straight to him like I always did. Not anymore, though; I was a different person. That cute little blonde no longer existed. Well, cute girl does, but blonde and sweet…no. If I ran into him again, he would never see me like he used to and I would make it clear that I cared nothing for his company.

I lost track of
time giving myself a pep talk. Climbing out of the shower, I noticed it was very quiet. Had they left without telling me? I wrapped my hair in a towel and wrapped one around my body as well. When I opened the door to walk out, Viktor was lying on my bed, and I absolutely froze.

“Now that’s a deer caught in the headlights look
, if I’ve ever seen one.” He smiled as if this was amusing. “What were you doing in there anyway? You had to have been in there for at least an hour.”

“I se
e Shay didn’t hurt you too bad. Consider yourself lucky.” I walked over to my drawers and began grabbing clothes out, acting as if his presence didn’t bother me.

“She’s nice
, but I think I won her over.”

“Good
, then go sit on her bed and bother her.” I waved my hand in the air, not noticing I was waving my bra and panties in the air as well. I felt my face turn red.

“I like blue.”
He was referring to my under garments.

“Noted, I will let her know.”
I began to walk back to my bathroom to change when he suddenly blocked my way.

“You have got to find this exhausting.”

“Find what exhausting?”

“This role you like to play.”

He shrugged. “You know I’m not interested in Shay.”

“Maybe you should be. I’m damaged
, Viktor. I’m not someone you can count…” And then he was kissing me.

It’s a good thing my towel was Velcro,
because it would have fell to the ground like the clothes I’d been holding. Just like that, everything disappeared. With his hands holding my face, I was frozen. This wasn’t that bad, because I let him take control. He pulled me closer to him as he tangled a hand in my hair, wrapping the other around my back. He tasted like desire itself. I didn’t want him to stop, but then he did.

“I’m sorry.
I’ll let you get dressed.” He gave me one final kiss and told me he would see me tonight. When he got to the door and turned to look at me, he had one last thing to say. “Tell Jared to back off. It’s my turn.” He smiled at me and waved as he closed the door.

I felt the world spinning and I allo
wed myself to fall onto my bed. Really? Did that really just happen? My fingers brushed over my lips to feel if they were still swollen. They were and I couldn’t wrap my head around it. Why now? I had never been caught in something like this. Jared wanted to lay claim to me, but that was nothing new. Viktor came along and all of a sudden he wanted a shot. And we just met. That was the weirdest thing about all of this. Well, just weird really, because now Declan was back. What would happen if I ran into him again? At that moment I made it clear to myself that I did love Declan, but his time was over and he would just have to understand that and respect me by leaving me alone.

On that note
, I began to get ready like any other work night. I searched for the best outfit and made sure my hair and make-up was just right. I met Shay again for dinner before work at the local pizza place around the corner and she couldn’t stop talking about Viktor and how crazy he was about me. For once, it was nice hearing about someone decent making a fuss over me. I let her talk the whole time until it was time to go.

“So, what do you think?”
Shay was too busy talking about their conversation that she never gave me a chance to talk.

“About what, Viktor? I don’t know
, I just met him and it seems like everything is moving too fast. Does it seem like that to you?”

“I know you
aren’t asking me advice on men. Sloane, stop closing yourself up.”

“OK, let’s say this ‘thing’
happens to last and he gets a whiff of my gifts. What will he do then, run?”

“You have to take chances
, Sloane. You will never know unless you try. Give him a chance and tell Jared to back the hell off.”

“I already did th
at once and look what happened. The guy left and never came back. Well, figuratively. Speaking of which, you never told me what Declan said.”

“Do you really want to know? I’ll tell you if you do.”
Something told me to say no, but I just couldn’t.

“Tell me.”

“He bought a house and he has a girl leaving with him.”

My heart
began to fill with ice and I could feel raw emotions flowing through my body as we stopped walking. I couldn’t move or breathe. I knew he went on with his life, but why did it feel like the last bit of my broken heart just shattered? I placed my hand on a shop’s building as if it were actually holding me up. Taking deep breaths, I could hear Shay’s pleas to let her know I was alright. 

“Sloane
, your eyes just went from hazel to jade green. Please, calm down. This is why I wasn’t sure if I should tell you or not.”

   “It’s fine
, really. I knew he obviously went on with his life. I just didn’t think about the reality of it.”

“I guess it’s a good thing Viktor came along when he did.”

“Yes, I guess so.”

We continued to walk to work.
Shay talked about making plans for the beach and I listened and thought about the future. I was afriad of holding Shay back from being happy. I knew she would never leave me and as long as she knew I needed her, she would always be there. For her I would try with Viktor just so she would stop worrying.

The nig
ht began like any other night. We stocked our bar section after closing up our jackets and purses in the closets. Just as I thought how “quiet” it was, Jared called me into his office.

“Have you thought about anything I said last night?”

“Yes, I have and I decided that I am going to see Viktor.”

“Oh, really
?”

“Jared
, it has nothing…” He cut me off before I could finish.

“It’s fine.
The crowd is starting to come in. You better get to work.”

Just like that
, I was dismissed. It went over better than I thought, but as the night went on, I hardly saw Jared. I guess it was about 11:30 p.m. before Viktor walked in. I wondered why he came so late, but couldn’t help but smile anyway. He leaned over the bar and motioned for me to plant a kiss on his cheek, but as I went to kiss it, he turned his head and I got his lips instead.  Cheesy, I know, but it worked and it made my night better. He made sure he played at the closest pool table to me, and when he took breaks we’d sit at the end of the bar and talk. And Shay gave the occasional towel pop on my behind to let me know when I had customers.

It was a good night; b
etter than most in a very long time. That night Viktor waited for me and we walked home together. As we got to our building, he walked me to my door and said good night with a sweet kiss to seal the deal.

Chapter 5

Days, weeks, and months started to run together. Come to think of it, the dreams stopped too.  Viktor and I started to do the couple thing. During the week when I wasn’t working we’d spend time together. He was basically some type of consultant that could work whenever he wanted and, well, I was still a bartender-slash-club owner. I still had my days with Shay on Thursdays and we’d always meet up and go shopping. Viktor made sure not to overcrowd me, though Shay always asked for intimate details. Up until now all we’d managed to do was kiss, and even that made my toes curl.

“You are so lying to me right now!” Shay shouted across the clothing store.

“I’m not lying. He’s a complete gentleman.” I couldn’t help but laugh at myself for saying that.

“So
, for two and a half months you have managed to keep all your clothes on? With all of this showing,” Shay waved a hand around me, “and with that hanging on your arm?” She then was pointing to Viktor, who was walking toward us.

“Hello
, ladies. I came to see if I could buy you lunch.” He gave me a quick peck and a soft smile.

“Like I said
, you are
lying
.” Shay started walking out the store, but turned to us and said, “Well, are you coming?”

“Did I say something wrong?”
Viktor took my bags and threw his giant arm around my neck.

“Nope
, you did everything right.” I smiled as we caught up to Shay.

After shopping with Shay and having lunch, Shay went home to get some rest while Viktor and I headed back to the loft. He received a call about some deal that needed to be looked at and he went to consult, because that’s what he did. I walked into my loft and put all my bags in my room, kicking off my shoes. I was trying to figure out if I wanted to watch TV, but then I realized I hadn’t been in my studio in a while.

I changed into my overalls and grabbed my iPhone with my
ear buds. I walked through my secret opening and began to uncover all the brushes and paints. I grabbed a blank canvas and looked at it, trying to envision what I needed to paint. Nothing came to mind at the moment, so I set it on the easel and went to mixing and cleaning as I put my ear buds in. Once everything was organized, I turned one last time and a vision of icy blue eyes flashed in my head. Without thinking, I took out a charcoal pencil and traced out the actual image before I started painting. 

I carefully mixed colors to get the right color of the skin tone and the
perfect color of the pair of eyes.Then I began to add in all of the colors. I added the black and white in the certain areas that accented the partial face feature so that it brought out the eyes. I had to get them right; something about them just had to be perfect. I wasn’t aware of the time that had past and was taken completely off guard when I happened to look up and saw Viktor standing in my studio. I dropped everything that was in my hand and screamed. 

“What the hell are you doing in here?”

“You left your door unlocked and I wanted to see what you were doing. Sloane, why didn’t you tell me?” He slowly walked over to me, but this was my space and mine only. He had to go.

“You can’t
be in here. Get out!”

He walke
d over to what I was painting, and it was finished. Not realizing it at the moment, but the eyes looked angry, hurt, and betrayed. Not to mention they were looking right at me as if I was the one to make them appear that way. As Viktor spoke, he brought me out of my trance.

“Those aren’t mine.”
He was referring to the eyes and he was right. They weren’t his sexy grey-colored eyes.

“They were stuck in my head.”
I started to panic as realization took over. It was Declan. I threw paint thinner on it, and then it started to happen. I felt everything change and Viktor had to go before he saw the real me.

I covered my face with my paint-
stained hands and tried to push Viktor out, but he wasn’t budging at all. He was acting like a stone wall. The anger in me began to build. All because he’d seen one of my secrets, and there were two more. One of them was about to be revealed if he didn’t leave now.

“What are you doing?” h
e asked as I tried to make my way to the bathroom on the other side. But he wouldn’t let me pass. “Look at me, Sloane!”

And I did.

“Is this what you want to see? This
frea
k?” Tears threatened to spill, but I wouldn’t allow them. 

With so much that was bottled up
, I didn’t even realize it happened until it was over. Viktor went in to hold me and instead I rejected him. When I say I rejected him it was more like projected him. I threw him straight across the room and the objects around me began to swirl around the room like there was a tornado inside the studio.  I covered my face with my hands and began to cry as I sank to the floor. I just wanted it all to stop. Everything I touched seemed to turn to shit. I didn’t want any of it and I wanted to be rid of it. 

I laid there for some time
, holding my face and praying I wouldn’t have to watch Viktor walk out. Why would he want to stay? And then I felt someone pulling me into their lap, holding me and then slowly rocking me. 

“Jus
t leave now before I hurt you.” He hugged me even tighter.

“Haven’t you realized that I’m not
leaving?” Victor pulled my chin up so that I could look at him. My eyes were different; I already knew that and he smiled at me. “Red. That means raw passion and anger, if I’m not mistaken.”

“You aren’t afraid of me?”
I couldn’t help but fidget with my hands while waiting for his swift exit.

“Do you want me to show you a trick?” I looked at him
, not in understanding, but nodded anyway.

Viktor shut his eyes and everything around me began to move on its own. All the spilt paint, brushes,
and everything that was broken was put back together. The wind whipped around as if erasing everything that just happened. How was this possible? I looked back at Viktor while his eyes were still shut and I couldn’t resist. I kissed him and it didn’t even break command. All I could think about was the fact that I wasn’t alone. Viktor picked me up so that I could stand on my own. I took a look around and began to shake. Viktor walked over to my painting I ruined, or at least I’d thought I ruined it. When he turned it around to face me, there they were.  Those piercing icy blue eyes were staring at me.

“Do
you want to tell me about him?” Viktor actually looked nervous.

“He is, well,
was someone I loved a long time ago.” I sat down, looking straight at the painting.

“Do you still love him?”
He didn’t look at me then.

“I don’t know if I do.
He used to haunt my dreams, but that changed when I met you. I don’t know why that is and I don’t know why I had to paint this.” I braced myself for some type of outrage. 

“Do you want me to leave?”
That was the first time someone ever asked me if I wanted them to leave. I was shocked and hurt. 

“No!” It just came out.
“Please, don’t go. This is the first time I’ve actually felt something other than bitter. Whatever it is, I don’t want you to take it away. And I know if you leave, so will this feeling.”

“No more secrets and no more lies
, then.” Viktor walked over to me to take my face in his hands. “I’m serious. No more lies or secrets. Is there anything you would like to tell me?”

I nodded my head. “I own three of these l
ofts, I have supernatural powers and I have no clue where the hell they came from. And—wait, so do you! You have some explaining to do as well, but first I want to say this. Not only do I own the lofts but I am a painter and a photographer sometimes, and I own Xchange. No one else knows, not even Shay. Well, Shay knows about the creepy eye tricks that happen, but nothing else.” Man did it feel good to vent.

“Wait
, you own Xchange?” He looked more confused about me owning that damn club than anything else.

“Yea
h, why?” Victor smiled at me like he knew something I didn’t and he stood there just shaking his head.

“I’m just speechless
, that’s all.  You own a nightclub and you work the bar. Is this everything?”

I shook my head at him, remembering
something, and without even thinking, I blurted it out. “That day you found me at the river walk,” he nodded for me to continue, “well, I saw Declan across the bank. But when I went to hop on my bike to leave, he was there. There was no possible way he would’ve done that unless he too…” Then it hit me. All this time Declan had some kind of supernatural genetics, too.

“Did he say anything to you?”

“Not really. I think he thought my name. I know that sounds crazy, but he said my name in his head and I heard it in my mind.”

“Have you seen him since?”

“No, I haven’t and now it’s your turn. What the hell is going on?”

“Well
, it’s complicated for me. I’m not supposed to tell or reveal what I am.”

Now I was pissed.

“Okay, you just had me confess everything to you, but yet you can’t tell me what this is? How is that possible?” He started pacing around the studio. “Viktor, tell me. No one has ever been able to come to terms with what this is and here you are, and now you refuse.”

“You need to calm down before you bring
this building down around us.” He looked at me as if I were pitiful. 

“I don’t need your sympathy.
I’ve done fine with being on my own and I can continue on just like that.” I got up to push the hidden door open, walking into my loft.

“OK!
I’m supernatural, too. You’re something different, though. I can sense different things through your aura. I never could before because you refused to open up to me. What was your mother?”

“What was my mother? Have you lost your mind? She was my mother—
human.”

“No
, she, by far, was not human, and neither was your father.” Now he did it. “Wait, you said you lived with your great aunt, right? I’m thinking your mom left you there purposely to protect you. Sloane, you really have no clue of what you are surrounded by, do you?”

“What I’m surrounded by? I’m not following you.”

“I know you’ve heard stories about the things that go bump in the night. Well, they’re true—every single one of them. There’s a Heaven and a Hell. Not to mention everything else in between.”

“OK
, so what are you exactly?”

“I
don’t think you’re ready to know what I am.”

“Quit stalling and just tell me.”

“I’m a Fallen.”

“A Fallen what?”

“Angel.”

Laughing out loud,
I said, “You can’t be serious.”

Just like that
, he let his wild black feathered wings burst out from behind him.I fell backwards and tripped over my coffee table and continued to stumble. I tried to get back as far as possible. He really was a Fallen Angel. Even though they were beautiful wings, they were so overwhelming, too. He stood there waiting for me to bolt like I actually wanted to, but he was closer to the door and I didn’t think I would make it very far. His shoulders sank and he bowed his head as if ashamed. I didn’t know what to do. All I knew was that he accepted me and everything weird about me. My freakish eyes that revealed my mood swings, the strength I had when I’m out of control, the fact that I could control elements, and let’s not forget about this mind thing. Although, I’d only done it with Declan, so I didn’t even know if that’s what actually happened.

“
Don’t be afraid of me. I would never hurt you.”

Yea
h, I jumped about an extra two feet backwards. 

“Wait
, did you...”

“Yes
, and you can too.”

“Stop!
Just talk to me; this is a little too much. I’m on complete overload right now. So, are you telling me that only Angels can do this?”

“Yes
, and their descendants.  It has something to do with our blood.”

“So
, you’re telling me I’m descendant of your kind?”

“There might be a little more to
you than you think. I think you were bred to be as strong as you are.”

“Bred?  L
ike someone purposely put my parents together?”

“Yes
, to strengthen the bloodline.”

“Lovely, I’m a
mutt. Thanks for the confirmation.” I walked over to my couch and dropped down on it. 

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Viktor, you can put your wings up. I believe you now.”

He walked over t
o the couch and sat next to me. I noticed then that his shirt was torn all to hell now. I felt bad, and things definitely couldn’t get any worse. I laid my head back and shut my eyes.