Dangerous Things

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“You shut the hell up,” Jason growled playfully and Tabatha heard him slam the chair legs down in their right position. “Tabatha, I’ll call you later. The child here has decided to start throwing paper wads at me.”

Tabatha giggled and nodded her head, “All right, I’ll talk to you later.”

She hung up the phone and sat there for a moment before putting the phone back on the charger. Looking around the apartment again, it didn’t seem quite so lonely now. Jason would need her friendship now more than ever and being needed helped to make her feel more stable.

Standing up and stretching her arms over her head, she walked down the hall to her room. She got undressed and slipped into a pair of boy shorts and a tank top before sinking down into the cool, familiar softness of her bed.

This time she didn’t try to stop the scene from playing out in her mind as she drifted off to sleep. After all, she needed to decipher it and it wouldn’t go away until she did… so why fight it? She sank into the darkness of sleep still staring across the church and into Kane’s eyes.

*****

Jewel paced the expanse of Steven’s bedroom. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had taken to biting her nails, something she hadn’t done since she was a child.

“This is my fault,” she said softly trying to blink away the image of her father crucified above the alter of the same church he'd attended for most of his life. How many times had he prayed right there below where he’d died? She’d known Anthony was twisted but that was sadistic.

Steven watched the woman pace back and forth and could even see her lips moving soundlessly as she ranted within her mind. He reached out a hand and laid it on her arm soothingly in an attempt to calm her down. “Jewel, none of this is your fault.”

She narrowed her eyes on his hand then glared up at him. “You’re partly right. It’s just as much your fault as it is mine. And now that Daddy is dead, I don’t have to marry Anthony anymore and I definitely don’t have to stay married to you.”

Jewel turned away from him so his hand would fall. The last thing she needed right now was to be absolved of her sins… she was guilty as hell. She’d given Anthony the nails to crucify her own father.

Steven wouldn’t admit it but her words stung him deeply. He responded the only way he knew how at this point since she obviously didn’t want to hear words of encouragement or kindness.

“Do you honestly think Anthony will stop coming after you just because he killed your father?” Steven yelled. He knew he was right and that she wasn’t going to listen to a damn word of it.

“He killed my father… I was dancing with the devil because I wanted father safe and alive. If Anthony dares to come near me now, I’ll blow his damn head off.” Jewel felt so strange. It was like she was perfectly calm on the outside, but shaking like crazy on the inside.

She’d cried for hours but the anger had finally sobered her up. She’d shed enough tears. Now it was time to take back her life. She had formed a plan to set a trap for Anthony and she prayed Steven was right… that Anthony would come for her, because she’d be ready for him.

“I can’t let you leave,” Steven informed her. If she wasn’t going to protect herself, then as her mate… he would have to do it for her. He watched her red rimmed eyes turn and lock with his.

“Then you’re no better than Anthony and I will hate you for the rest of my life,” she said stubbornly. She wanted Steven to get mad at her, to throw her out and wash his hands of her. If he did that… then maybe Anthony wouldn’t kill him the same way he had her daddy. She didn’t want to be the blame for any more horrible deaths unless it was Anthony’s… she’d gladly take the blame for his.

Steven glared at her for a minute then flung open the door and stood aside. “Go ahead then. I’m offering to save your ass and you want to go all gung ho? Go on, and let’s see how far you get against something you don’t have the slightest idea of how to kill.” Steven smiled wickedly at her, “Just so you know, the movies are nothing but a bunch of bull.”

“I guess you’d know!” Jewel yelled back and took a few steps forward. Why was he still trying to save her? Didn’t he understand she would just get him killed?

Steven closed his eyes and looked away. “Yeah, I would know… wouldn’t I?” he mocked then looked back as Jewel tried to dart past him. Panicking, Steven caught her around the waist and pulled her closer, “Damn it, wait!” he conceded.

Jewel started to squirm against him so he pulled her tighter to his chest. “If you want to set him up then fine, but you can’t do it alone. Let us help you.”

Jewel pushed against his chest leaning back so she could look up at him. “Why? So you can be hung on a cross too?” She wanted to scream as the vision made its way into her mind’s eye. “I don’t want that to happen.”

She wasn’t sure what she felt for Steven but the thought of him dyeing like that was making her feel like she’d been stabbed in the chest. “If you let me go now, then he’ll have no reason to come after you.” She gripped the front of his shirt in her small hands. “You’ll be safe… and alive.”

“He’ll come after me anyway,” Steven informed her then traced his finger over the mating mark he’d given her. He smiled gently when he felt her shiver at his touch. “Like I said, this is real life. If you go back to him and he sees that mating mark, he’ll come after me regardless of what you say or do.”

Jewel leaned against the solid warmth he was offering and closed her eyes. She felt her anger fade in the safety of his arms and wanted to stomp her foot in frustration. The sadness of losing her father was starting to settle in again but she wouldn’t cry.

Steven wrapped Jewel in a reassuring hug. He couldn’t blame her for the way she was acting. If Anthony had just killed his father, then no force in this world or the next would be able to hold him back.

“Look, how about this?” he asked leaning back from her a bit and tilting her face up to his. “We’re having a meeting in the morning and everyone is going to be there. We’ll help you think of something better than just turning yourself over to him. Either way, with us you’ll have an army beside you. Without us, you’ll be facing an army of werewolves and no matter what you do… Anthony will have you.” He caressed her cheek as he searched her eyes, “And I don’t want Anthony to have you.”

Jewel lowered her head back to Steven’s chest and took a deep, shuddering breath. He was right. She didn’t want to be anywhere near that monster after what he’d done. She pressed her ear to Steven’s chest listening to his strong and steady heartbeat. How many times had he saved her from vampires, from Anthony, and now from her foolish self?

“Will you hold me tonight?” Jewel whispered knowing if he let go of her, the horror of the last couple hours would come back to haunt her. She looked up at him and locked her gaze with his steady one. Her lips parted in wonder as a streak of heat shot down through the center of her body.

How could he calm her rage and make her feel like she was on fire at the same time? She quickly looked away not wanting him to read her confusion.

Without answering, Steven lifted her in his arms, kicked the door closed with his foot, and strolled back across the room setting her on the edge of the bed. Pulling her shoes off, he quickly got rid of his own and laid down with her. He heard Jewel’s quick intake of breath as he pulled her against him so he could spoon his body around hers. It would still take time… but he would be damned if he let Jewel go that easily.

Chapter 3

Kriss entered the apartment he shared with Tabatha and locked the door behind him. He’d searched high and low for Dean and hadn’t found a trace of him or the demon he’d been chasing.

One thing about their kind, if they wanted to hide, they knew how to vanish and leave no traces of where they were. He’d been able to sense the demon everywhere though he never saw it. It wasn’t until it was freed that he’d realized he had always been able to sense its presence. He could still feel the malicious intent of that dark personality even inside his home… it didn’t settle well in the pit of his stomach.

Walking through the dark apartment, Kriss made his way back to Tabatha’s bedroom and smiled at the innocent visage asleep in the bed. She was curled up like a kitten around her favorite stuffed animal… a Yorkie dog with its tongue sticking out. The stuffed animal was the only remnant of her childhood she had left. A few years ago, she’d finally broken down and told him the story of Scrappy and how the dog had vanished when she went on vacation the last time with her parents.

Kriss sighed and lay down in bed beside her, curling around her like a security blanket. No sooner had he done so, Tabatha snuggled back against him.

“Did you find Dean?” she asked softly.

*****

Kane had managed to slip away; glad Warren had taken Michael’s attention long enough for him to do so. Whatever Michael and Dean had done to fix what Misery did to him had given him the mother of all adrenalin rushes. He was antsy now and he wasn’t going to work it off sitting in Warren’s office reminiscing about the soul-sucking demon who was sure to give him a few wiggly-boo’s in his nightmares for a while to come.

He glanced up at the overwhelming darkness in the sky and knew the first streaks of dawn weren’t far away. Wanting away from the heart of the city, he moved through the streets so fast that if anyone had been watching, they wouldn’t have noticed him among them. The down side of that was that he was now miles from Michael’s home.

He wanted to see Scrappy and curl up with the dog on the sofa with a nice bottle of wine, a ludicrously sized bowl of popcorn, and… a disaster movie? Kane shook his head… what in the hell was he thinking about? Scrappy would most likely pick the movie, which could or couldn’t be a bad thing at the moment. They both liked the movies where the animals could talk.

Kane slowed down and took in his surroundings when he realized something had drawn him in this direction. At first he thought it was Misery who had drawn him here. He shook his head again and discarded the idea when the image of Tabatha at the church flashed through his mind. He could feel her presence and, for the first time all night, Kane forgot about the monsters fornicating under the bed and humping in the closet.

Tabatha was his soul mate and, now that he’d taken her blood, it only amplified the connection. The only reason he hadn’t noticed it this last week was because the fallen… Kriss... had taken her so far away from him, stingy bastard. He was starting to wonder if he was suffering from separation anxiety.

Moving through this part of town, he found himself at her home within minutes. Landing silently on the roof of a neighbor’s house, he settled down to watch her through the bedroom window. His sharp eyesight took in the way her hair fell across the pillow and how her lips were slightly parted as she breathed deeply. He had never known such peace as he did right now… just watching her sleep.

Kane wondered what he looked like through her eyes. Did he resemble the other monsters she’d encountered or dreamed of? Did she even realize how deep his emotions for her went?

He almost rose from his crouch on the roof, ready to go to her when he heard her cry out in his mind. The sound had come from her dreams but the mental sound made him stop as it reminded him of the way she’d cried out as a child so many years ago. To date, all he’d ever done was cause her pain… cause her to bleed for him.

Kane turned to leave when he saw Tabatha’s bedroom door swing open. His muscles tensed up ready to attack the intruder when he saw the fallen, Kriss, come into Tabatha’s bedroom and crawl into the bed with her. Kane could tell the fallen was upset but he felt the rage well up inside of him when Kriss put his arm around her, holding her close in a very lover-like fashion.

He felt his peace shatter and more anger rush in to fill him up as he watched. Concentrating hard, his enhanced hearing started to pick up their whispered conversation. He frowned for a moment as he realized his power was stronger than before. He was surprised and his frowned deepened when he heard their heartbeats even at this distance.

“Dean doesn’t want me to find him,” Kriss sighed wondering if it was the demon Dean was stalking or if it was the fallen that had been down there with it. He wished Dean had waited. There was something about the aura of the other fallen that Kriss didn’t completely trust. He secretly hoped Dean would fail in his search for either of them.

“I wonder what happened,” Tabby whispered, “From what Envy and Devon said, Dean had been trapped down there most of the day.” She couldn’t help but envision Kane knowing he’d also been down there with the demon and almost not survived it.

“I’ll be sure to ask him as soon as I find him,” Kriss answered unable to keep the worry out of his voice.

“Dean loves you… he won't stay away long.” Tabatha closed her eyes hoping for Kriss’s sake that she was right.

“Sleep now,” Kriss whispered back hoping she was right about Dean returning soon. He hadn’t seen what the other fallen had looked like because he’d been moving too fast, but he’d felt him for a moment before the aura of the demon overpowered it. If just the fleeting feeling was haunting him, then he could imagine what Dean was going through.

The fallen were so rare that it took their breath away when they were anywhere near each other. Most thought they were the fallen angels of legend that had been cast to earth to help protect it… but legends are often only half truths that are molded by the words of men who crave a hero or sometimes an enemy.

The fallen had come to earth from another dimension… same as the demons. The legends called that dimension Heaven but they were wrong.

The myths said they destroy demons… again it was only a half truth. The Bible had said the fallen had mated with the beautiful women of earth and been punished for it… and that was the closest thing to the truth that the prophets had ever gotten.

The reason the remaining fallen kept themselves from mating with the females of earth… was because the product of those matings were the birth of a demons. It was the fallen that created demons.

When the first fallen had appeared, there were many but as the demons were born and began destroying what the fallen loved, they turned on their own children and fought. The numbers on both sides had diminished and the seal between dimensions was slowly closing.

Some of the original fallen had disappeared, thought to have lost their lives to the demons they’d spawned. Most of the survivors chose to go back home so they wouldn’t be tempted by the seduction of the human females. It was those few whom had sent the young warriors back into this world to watch over it… protect the humans from the monsters.

There was only one rule… they could not mate with the females of this world lest they kill them. One child of the true breed had been placed on each energy spot of earth and only a few of them had survived this long. Legends said they were immortal… legends were wrong.

The fallen were not immortal, they only lived for very long periods of time… millenniums would come closer to their lifespan. They could also be killed by human and demon alike… though for a human to succeed would be extremely difficult.

Syn had known the true legends and passed them down to his ‘children’. Remembering those lessons, Kane now understood how much Kriss loved Tabatha… enough not to take her as a mate… and enough not to let someone he thought wasn’t much more than a demon have her. It seemed he wasn’t the only one with dark secrets. The corner of Kane's lips hinted at a knowing smile as he turned and walked away.

*****

Envy and Devon were waiting at the bar when the first people started trickling in for the meeting. She and Kat were busy talking and trying to finish catching up on everything that happened while Devon and Quinn merely stood back and stared at them with a quirked eyebrow.

“What language are they speaking again?” Devon asked.

“There isn’t a name for it,” Quinn stated. “It is a ritual females partake in quite regularly. It starts out innocent then, before we know it, they’re out shopping and we’re stuck outside the changing rooms holding their purses.”

“You’re also stuck holding the bag while she goes inside girly stores and buys lingerie that you’re not allowed to see until your anniversary,” Nick chimed in with a smirk.

Warren clapped his hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Trust me little bro, you’ll happily hold those bags when the time comes.”

A pair of arms wrapped around Warren’s neck from behind and Michael’s face popped in between them. “Does that mean you’re taking me shopping?”

“Of course,” Warren said with a smirk. “I’ll take you to that bondage shop you like so much.”

Michael’s expression became dreamy. “Oh yes, whips, chains, stirrups, riding crops… leather.”

“What the…” Nick suddenly stood up and moved away from them making Devon snort.

“Homophobe,” Devon muttered.

“Shut up!” Nick growled, “They’re either very good liars or it’s disturbingly true.”

The door opened and Steven stepped in with Alicia and Jewel. Alicia had gone through her closet and found a nice purple sundress for Jewel to wear until she could get some more clothes. Luckily, they were roughly the same size and height so Jewel would be able to make due for now. Alicia had also told Steven that until he could get Jewel more clothing, Jewel was welcome to raid her closet as much as she liked.

Steven immediately stepped over to where Quinn and Devon were sitting with Nick at a table directly across from Kat’s bartending area.

“We’re not late I see.” Steven said smiling inwardly when he saw Jewel smile at Alicia. He realized he hadn’t seen her smile until now and he instantly felt a loss when it slid from her lips.

Warren looked around, “Actually I think everyone is here.”

“Not quite,” Envy said. “We’re still waiting on Chad.”

At that exact moment the doors swung open and Chad walked in with Trevor and Zachary behind him.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Devon demanded as he stood up.

“Chad’s a cop,” Envy reminded him. “He already knows some of what’s going on and he saw the tail end of what happened at the cemetery. He’s in whether he wanted to be or not. Besides,” she continued, “he’ll be able to keep the cops off your back for a while.”

“I wasn’t referring to your brother,” Devon’s voice had taken on a dangerous edge.

Kat nodded, seeing that Envy was getting ready to mistakenly take up for Trevor as well. Not wanting a full out battle royale to take place, she stepped away from the bar to put herself in their path.

“Trevor can stay too,” she said firmly and crossed her arms over her chest. “After all… he does play well with others.” Kat finished with a wink to the blonde man who gave her a mock salute.

Quinn stood up from his chair and walked over to Kat, putting his arm around her waist to pull her closer. “I’m going to have to keep an eye on you… aren’t I?” he murmured playfully, but the look in his eyes told a different story.

“Can we just get on with it?” Kane asked from the shadows.

Everyone except Michael jumped at the voice. He’d been so quiet no one knew he was there.

“Agreed,” Warren stated. “I think everyone knows why we’re here.” He looked at Chad who nodded once to indicate he understood before moving his gaze to Trevor and Zachary. “Before we go into what happened at the cemetery, I have a question for Trevor.”

Trevor narrowed his eyes, “Like what?”

“What the hell are you?” Devon asked interrupting Warren.

“I’m a shifter just like most of the people here,” Trevor answered.

Kane snorted in the shadows making everyone look his way.

“Do you know something about him?” Envy demanded. It wasn’t like she would take Trevor's word for anything… he’d already proven what a great liar he was.

“I might, but you’ll have to be really nice to me if you want to know,” Kane said with amusement in his voice. He would have blamed his moodiness on getting up on the wrong side of the bed, but hell… he hadn’t been asleep.

Devon was on his feet and had Kane hoisted into the air by the lapels of his jacket. “I think we’re done with being nice,” the jaguar growled.

Kane smirked down at the shifter, “Aw, that’s too bad. I already told my puppy what a sweetheart you were and he was so happy about meeting a new playmate.” They both knew who the loser would be if they decided to tangle… and it wasn’t the kitty cat.

“Your puppy?” Jewel asked, her eyes lighting up at the prospect of something cute and cuddly. Her lip twitched at the thought of a dog among all the cats in the room.

“It’s an oversized dust bunny,” Michael grumbled.

Warren pinched the bridge of his nose and Quinn had to fight to keep from laughing at his jaguar brother-in-law.