Snowscape Trilogy Page 7

  “But Nathaniel said-“

  “Nathaniel CANNOT help you here!” He exclaimed throwing his hand up in the air as he pushed away from the tree. “He cannot cross into this world, and if your human body dies than you are just dead.” He paused a moment fear crossing his features. “I am here to protect you. To protect your human self.”

  “Why are you helping me? Who are you to me?” I countered back, frustration and fear taking control. He stiffly walked up to me and rubbed his hand down both of my arms. I could feel the tingle of his nearness run down the length of my arms and into the soles of my feet. Before I could stop him, he planted a deep kiss on my lips and I could sense his inner turmoil. I could smell the sulphur growing stronger with his nearness and he reached around to cup the back of my neck and keep me close to him. “Are you really ready to know that, Ambrosia Ross?” Afraid to speak, I only nodded. I could feel his resolve melt as he pushed me against the tree and deepen his kiss.

  He reached his arms around my torso, under his jacket so there were only our shirts between our warming flesh. He pulled me close to him tightly with a fierceness that took me off guard. It was extremely arousing and invigoration. My thought of the past few days melted and the confusion and emotions that had been building up within me burst through in the passionate embrace. His kiss was rough but exactly what I wanted. We could not get close enough to each other but he pulled me tight and I rubbed my body up against his. I could feel that he was excited and wanted me with as much passion as I wanted him. He trailed his kisses from my mouth to my ear to my neck and I wanted to feel more of him. I pulled his shirt out of his pants and rubbed my hands up and down the length of his back. Suddenly he picked me up and lay me on a fresh patch of ground. The passion was overtaking me and I wanted nothing as much as to feel him inside me. He kissed me with all the voracity and frustration I had just been feeling. I lay back and took in the sensations. The need. My hand reached up and I could feel the soft cool grass beneath me. Suddenly I could also smell the clovers. Sam was trailing kisses down the side of my collarbone and I looked over. I was lying in a small patch of clovers. Their softness cradles my back and gave me a deep sense of tranquility and I could smell their fragrance mixed with the deep lingering order of sulphur.

  I pulled Sam on top of me so he was straddling me and I gently pushed his kisses away. I could see that he had lost his tie and that I had managed to unbutton the top four buttons of his shirt so his perfect chest peaked out at me. I looked at me with a deep sense of longing, with carnal need, but also with regret. He had not meant for this to happen, for us to have come this far and as much as I wanted and relished it I knew that we had to stop. In the kiss I had just seen a small portion of his soul and knew what I must do. I pulled his face toward me in one last deep kiss without indecision, and before he could stop me I tore off his glasses so I could see the demon fire burning in his eyes.

  He jumped off of me and turned away. “Why did you do that?” he asked angrily.

  I sat up and simply asked. ”Why didn’t you tell me?”

  He shook his head and ran his fingers through his blonde curls. “I,” hesitation overtook him once again. “I didn’t want to frighten you.” He turned toward me and I could see the fire burnt deep and sensual in his eyes. His hunger and longing still showed on his face but was now also joined by a tentative fear.

  “Frighten me? You are aware up until two days ago, my life was pretty mundane, except for a few unusual dreams?” I asked, choking back a laugh. As if at this point fear had any place in my new life. I stood up and gathered my thoughts, brushing off the soft dirt from my legs. I looked to him and he stood silently, waiting for approval, for fear…. for something. “You’re a demon?”

  He nodded.

  “Why are you helping me?”

  He seemed ready to speak, but paused and thought again. “It’s complicated.”

  I nodded slowly and gripped the coat around my shoulders tighter. A suddenly chill had overtaken me and I did not think it was from the woods. “I take it that means that you’re not going to tell me.”

  He nodded. “It’s really for the best.”

  “Of course it is,” I mumbled as I started walking back to the path I had created in my haste to flee from the demon earlier. Sam touched my shoulder lightly and I paused not looking back. “Are you afraid of me?” he asked.

  Irritated and spent, I stepped out of his reach. “I don’t think I’ve never feared anything more than you.” I walked to my car without looking back.

  Chapter 11

  When I arrived home, thankfully Alistair and Ted were already in bed. In fact I could hear them giggling, so I decided to take a long hot bath and ignore all sense of responsibility and humanity for a while. I was exhausted, confused, and emotional. Sleep would not come easy tonight even though I longed for the answers that apparently only Nathaniel could provide. Although he was just as frustrating as Samandiriel when it came to evasiveness.

  Laying in a hot tub of water I lit two candles I found tucked away under the sink and mulled through the revelations of the past few days. My newly appointed task of being a dream master meant next to nothing to me in sense or responsibility. So what if I could see into a person’s soul? I still didn’t understand why that made me useful or valuable. Demons had decided that they wanted to make me their all-powerful lapdog. I had two protectors: Nathaniel who guarded my dream self and helped me to develop that talent (supposedly) and Samandiriel, a demon, who guarded my human body. Both of who liked to make out with me apparently, oh and I had a psychic pet cheerleader to keep me company as well. I sighed and sunk under a little, burying myself in the warm water, away from all emotions for a moment. Fuck.

  Suddenly a vibrant crash rang out through the apartment and I could hear a blood-curdling scream. The electricity went out in the same moment and I was grateful for the tiny flames of my two lone candles. I jumped out of the water and wrapped a towel around myself. “Alistair?” I asked opening the door slowly and walked tentatively into the hallway.

  The smell the sulphur permeated the air before I saw the demon rushing out of the darkness. I had just enough time to run across the hall and into my bedroom, which as luck would have it had a lock on the door. I bolted it shut with the tiny little eyehook and shoved my dresser in front of the door while the demon banged and cursed from the other side. It was a male this time, but I couldn’t make out anything else about it. I hastily looked around the room for any thing I would be able to use as a weapon and to my delight saw my phone lying on the bed, half charged. I picked it up and noticed I had missed a call while I was in the bath. Hesitating for a moment; whom was I supposed to call? 911? I couldn’t really tell them I had a demon trying to kill me and if they sent a patrol car to investigate a disturbance the demon would just kill them. The banging on the other side of the door stopped and the silence was so deafening I could only hear my pulse pounding up through my body. Suddenly I jerked and let out a murmured cry as my phone rang in my hand. “Hello?”

  “Amy!” Violet yelled from the other end of the phone. “Amy, we’re almost there.”

  “Violet.” The word rushed out of me in relief. “Hurry up!“ the banging started again loudly and the phone fell from my hand in a startled jerk. The smell of sulphur and ash suddenly grew overwhelming. I ran to my window and opened it up, trying to force in fresh air. I suddenly heard the pop and hiss of flames crackling against the other side of my bedroom door as I realized the demon had started my apartment on fire. Like a rat jumping off of a burning ship, that that was how he was going to get me out. I had to leave or else I would be burned alive. My small bedroom window was barely large enough to squeeze through and still left a four-story drop. Panicking, I started to consider that as my only option when I heard Violet’s voice franticly yelling my name from the other side of the bedroom door.

  Shoving the dresser out of the way I found Violet and Sam standing in my hallway surrounded by flames. Sam was covered in soot an
d had a small but bloody knife in his hand. On the floor between them I could see the demon covered in blood. Sam grabbed my hand and pulled me into the flames. He ran his fingers down the side of my face and quickly looked me over for injuries. “Are you…?”

  “I’m okay, “and as the word stumbled out of my mouth I was grateful for his concern. “Alistair?” I asked looking toward Violet.

  She simply shook her head with a grimace. It was then that I noticed I was still only wearing a towel wrapped around my chest. I had no time to think, I just ran.

  Chapter 12

  An hour later I was rummaging through Violet’s closet at their house in Edgewood, looking for something that fit me. It turned out that the previous time I had followed them to their house; it was located just door down from the Garcia’s. Violet was quite a bit smaller than I was so I ended up settling on what I assumed was one of Sam’s button downs that I found in the hamper with a stretched out pair of sweatpants with pink and white trim. I was too tired and upset to think and just wanted to curl up and escape with a bottle of tequila.

  As I threw my hair back with a scarf I found on Violet’s dresser, I couldn’t help but think of Alistair and Ted. It was my fault they were dead. Who was going to tell their parents? What would they think when they found the stabbed body in the burnt out apartment? Would I be blamed? Would the police think I had been kidnapped? Would any one care that I had? My head kept circling and circling full of questions, but little answers.

  I sat down on Violet’s bed and laid back, stretching and trying to come to terms with the world I now found myself in. I closed my eyes and tried to stop the rapid beating of my heart. I never thought much of Yoga and mediation, but I did need a moment to clear my head. I would be of no use to myself or anyone else until I got my emotions under check. Taking deep breaths I let myself sink into the soft cotton of the duvet and just focused on the back of my eyelids and ignored the tears flowing softly out of them.

  I felt the bed press down with the weight of another and I opened my eyes expecting Violet. Instead I found myself face to face with a dark robbed Nathaniel.

  I could tell by the way she looked at me she had expected Samandiriel. Her face did not fall when she realized it was I and that small fact lifted my ever-waning spirits. Did she have any concept of how beautiful her soul was? Her tear stained cheeks begged to be kissed and I longed to takes her hair and run my fingers through it. I wanted her so badly my soul ached with need, but I would not take her without consent. Never without knowing she wanted the same. I slowly cupped her face in my hand and ran a finger down the side of her cheek. She closed her eyes in silent acquiesce. Her lips parted and she leaned in towards me. Permission granted.

  The shock of seeing Nathaniel across from me must have shown on my face. As he reached towards me I could see the hesitation in the movements. He did not realize that this world was new to me. Despite his watch over my dreams, we had never spoken before this week. His intimate gestures were not unwanted, but were just untried. As he reached out to caress my cheek, irritated by tears, I closed my eyes and fell into his embrace. I closed off all other emotions and held on to only the feel of his hand upon my face. As his finger traced a path towards my chin I knew what he wanted from me. My insides clenched at the prospect and I felt a warmth rise over my body and across chest. Without second thoughts I leaned in and kissed him.

  Wrapping my arms around him, he held me tight against his body and I lost myself for a little while in the depths of his soothing embrace.

  I awoke laying face down on Violet’s bed.

  Finally dressed I walked downstairs to find Violet alone sitting at the kitchen table. “Riel will be back. He needed to go take care of a few things before we left. He also thought you and I should talk.”

  I sat down opposite her and poured myself a cup of coffee from the pot she had sitting in front of her. She had placed a second coffee mug on the table. Psychic or just an obvious move after the night I had just had. “Left?”

  She nodded. “We need to leave town. The demons know who you are now. Your apartment is gone and your job will not be safe for you any longer. They aren’t going to wait for your birthday anymore. Our only chance it to keep you safe until you come into your full power.”

  “Full power?” I asked.

  Violet sat back and I noticed for the first time she did not seem her perky self. Her hair was disheveled and her cloths lose around her frame. She was wearing what looked like an old pair of jeans and a faded pink sweater. Although she had applied makeup, it was clearly not up to her normal standard. The stress of the situation was starting to show. “Amy, I cannot tell you much-“ I made to protest once again this lack of information, but she cut me off “I don’t know much. The details of your power lie with Riel and Nathan and they have not found the need to share with me. Nor do I think they will anytime soon. I do know that on your 26th birthday you come into your full power… if you remain… untouched.”

  “Untouched?” I cocked my head in question. Her noticing the blush rising to my cheeks was enough to answer my question. “You mean virgin.”

  She nodded. “All I know is that when you come into your full power you will be able to transcend the planes between this one and the dream realm easily and that is a power source the demons are amped to get their greedy little hands on.” It struck me how fluidly Violet was able to go from the kings language to modern English within the span of one sentence. The distraction was nice now that I now faced the question of my virginity, or possible lack thereof thanks to Nathaniel’s careful ministrations.

  “So on my birthday. I come into my full power and then transcend?” She nodded slowly, her mouth pressed tight, answering my unspoken fears. “What does that mean?”

  “I have no idea.”

  Of course not. “Are you really empathic?”

  She smiled and nodded her head. “I have been alive long enough to be able to read humans pretty well. I can sense things about their souls or their emotional state.”

  “The vanilla latte?”

  She smiled. “Amy, I have been looking for you for centuries. You don’t think I would have asked around after we had discovered you in Olympia? Kayla told me.”

  “Are you a demon like your brother?” I asked changing the subject.

  She shook her head. “No. I’m 100% human.”

  “But Sam is a demon?”

  “Yes.”

  “How is that possible?”

  “We are not blood siblings. Although we are closer than most siblings could be. Samandiriel raised me from a very early age. My parents died while I was young and I chose to stay with Riel and wait for the emergence of the new dream master. I actually became somewhat of a prize to be won in the war between heaven and hell at one point. Not as much as you are, of course. Riel raised me to be my own person. Not a pawn to be used by one side or the other, but you wouldn’t believe how many marriage proposals I receive from demons because of my ability.”

  “How long have you been together?”

  She smiled “A few hundred years.”

  “But if you’re a human…” she shrugged.

  “I don’t know why I stopped aging. I guess Riel might, but I don’t really want to know. I suppose it has something to do with my pledging allegiance to an angel of fertility. Those type of heavenly factors tend to alter your body a bit and get a girl noticed on the other planes.”

  “So you work for heaven? Like an angel?”

  “No. I work for Riel. And you now.”

  “Why is he protecting me? I thought that demons wanted to control me. What side is he on?”

  “Neither actually. He has always only been on your side. You see there is a balance that must be maintained between the demons and the angels. The demons constantly struggle for the upper hand and the angles constantly struggle to maintain balance. Both would wish to use you for their own gains, but Riel and Nathaniel only seek to protect you and you alone. At any cost.”

 
“But why? I am beginning to understand this power I have and why others might try to subjugate me, but what is their purpose in this? Why are they protecting me?”

  “Let me ask you a question first. Have you looked into Nathaniel’s eyes?” I nodded, too taken aback by the memory to say more. “You saw in them what is opposite of Samandiriel’s?” I twisted my ring and settled back against the seat, remembering the swirling opal colors. “You first lesson of the dawning day: always look into your opponents eyes. A demon will reveal its true nature though its eyes. With the exception of Riel and Nathan, they will always show you their true nature in the essence of their eyes.” She sat back and took me in.

  “Why are they the exception?”

  She pursed her lips and thought to herself for a second. “You are remaining very calm Amy. I don’t know that I would react the same way had I been in your place.”

  I took a small sip of my coffee. “I guess. I’m actually felling sort of numb right now. Maybe it’s the whole destiny thing. I just want to react, not emote. Does that make any sense?”

  Her lips tightened across her face and she nodded. “I guess I am feeling enough emotion for both of us anyway.” Suddenly I reached across the table and grabbed her hand. “Thank you,” I said. “I would have been charred alive if it hadn’t been for you. How did you know I was being attacked?”