Fourteen

 

I’d asked Mason to join me in the shower with no expectations of sex, but now that I was in the shower with him, under the hot spray, I wondered if I’d made a mistake taking it off the table. He made no move to do anything but hold me or help me.

We stood, my back to his chest, letting the water hit us gently. “I’m sorry I got us all into this mess.”

When I looked back at that day with the original demon, I realized I should have found another way. Anything would have been better than what had happened.

“You’re sorry?” He took my shoulders and flipped me around to face him. The broad expanse of his chest was all I could see. I’d not been wrong; Mason had really gotten stronger. “I was the one who couldn’t wake up. Trapped behind that mask in that dream state. I saw you. I knew what you were going to do. I was sure of it. When I finally ripped that thing off my head, it was already too late to save you. You were gone.”

His words shook me. “You remember that?”

I’d always assumed they weren’t really there, that their masks were metaphors and the whole thing manifested in my own head but not in theirs.

He took my hand and brought it to his mouth. Gently, he kissed my knuckles. “That was all real, sweetness. All of it. We understand it now. Better than you do, it would seem. Trust me when I say every single second of it was real.”

My mind shifted when my powers turned on. It felt different this time, like they were a breeze in my brain. I could see the circle of power, and then I stood in it again. It was that night. I watched myself … vanish.

What was going on? I whirled around to look. My guys were all trapped in their masks, only I saw them from a different perspective. I was outside the circle with them. I tried to grab who I thought was Mason, but it was hard to tell since I couldn’t see their eyes anymore. My hand went right through him.

Okay. That was odd.

This was a memory … but not my own.

Mason ripped his stone mask off his face; it came apart into two pieces. That was impossible. Even Mason couldn’t be that strong. Except he was. I’d just seen him do it.

“Anne,” he bellowed before he jumped through the flames to come out in the center. I gasped. He shouldn’t have done that. He could have hurt himself. I followed after him, not worried about the flames. He was in the center of the circle now, staring up at the flying creatures above us.

“Give her back.” He pointed to them. “Give her back, now.”

“Stop that.” Milo appeared by his side. “Don’t yell at them. Don’t you know what they are? Don’t you remember? They can take her back. They can take her, and we’ll never see her again. Doesn’t anyone else remember?”

I jerked back. We were in the shower. I couldn’t catch my breath. Mason stood still, his eyes totally white. I gasped, grabbing his face as his eyes returned to their normal, gorgeous deep brown. “Are you okay? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to you.”

A slow smile crossed his face. “Do that anytime you want. I’ve been waiting for it. We all have, even if we didn’t know it. Stay inside of me. Do you really see me like that?”

He lifted me up from beneath my arms, and I grasped him behind his neck. Then we were kissing. I didn’t understand what was happening, and I didn’t care right then. I needed him, this. It was like we fed on each other. His mouth demanded my lips, and I gave them to him without question. He pressed my back against the wall.

At that moment, I was perfect. Nothing hurt. I had no illness to recover from. I had Mason, and I’d been in his head seeing his memory, and I loved it. What was more, he did too. He was terribly hard, and I wanted him inside of me.

“Please.” I kissed all over his face. He reached between us, supporting me with the wall and his other arm, to touch my clit. I moaned. Between Mason and the hot water, I was on fire. His breathing picked up.

“You’re not feeling well.”

“I feel fine right now. Not sick. Never better.” He pushed up inside of me, and my head conked the wall of the shower. I didn’t care. He was so big and so mine right then.

Mason spoke through gritted teeth. “This okay?”

“Better than.”

He closed his eyes and slowed his pace. “This is like being home.”

Surges of more than pleasure travelled through me. My power was on, and it was pulsating at the same time as my body clenched around his. This was Mason, and he was mine. When he opened his eyes to look at me, his eyes were white like they had been before. I gasped, and he kissed me.

“Don’t worry about it. I love it. This is what we’re supposed to do. This is what has been missing forever. I’ve been missing it forever. I love you. I’m in you like you are in me. I love you. I’ve missed you.”

I came. Just like, I exploded around him and he called out at the same time before emptying himself inside of me. I couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. All I could do was feel Mason. Deep inside of me.

 

I came down to breakfast only wearing a bathrobe. I didn’t have any clothes, and I wasn’t getting back into the outfit I’d worn at Cooperman’s nightmare house. Mason was right behind me, and I knew the second everyone noticed his eyes were white. None of them had commented on mine, which I knew had long since stopped showing any color.

Four sets of eyes stared at Mason before different grins swept their faces. They were … happy?

“I don’t know how to get his eyes back yet. I will figure it out.”

Mason kissed my cheek and walked over to start spooning eggs onto two plates. “She co-joined, obviously, but she doesn’t know what we know, so she’s a little freaked out. Otherwise she’d understand why I can’t stop smiling about it.”

“Well, the smiling is probably equal parts co-joined as it is you just got laid.” Garrett took a sip of his drink and then winked at me. “You can’t change his eyes back because you don’t have all five of us yet. When you have all five, you’ll be able to do it at will. What’s more, he can change them back as he wants. Probably could now, but he’s reveling in it. Feels good, does it Mason?”

He sat down, and I took the other empty seat at the table, which was between Bryant and Garrett. Mason pushed some eggs across to me. I stared at the food while they all stared at me. I had to say something.

“I’ve lost most of my appetite.”

“That’ll come back as you feel better.” I wondered how Garrett knew so much about this. “For Sisters, a lot of how they feel outside is based on their emotional health. I kind of knew this before I read it.”

“He’s the resident expert now.” Mason sipped what I thought was coffee. “And yes, to answer your question, it feels fantastic.”

“I’m not really sure I understand. I … co-joined with him?” It was such a funny word. “I’ve had sex with Bryant too, and his eyes are fine.”

Bryant leaned over to kiss my cheek. “You weren’t ready for it, and I didn’t know what was going on either. The connection didn’t happen, although I did feel like it wasn’t our first time. Next time, it will.”

Bryant’s cheeks pinked. This was such a weird conversation to be having over breakfast. “Well, I have to have sex to make this happen? Like sex is some kind of, what … um …”

Milo interrupted. “Not sex. Love. You have to love the person and feel loved. It could happen in any moment. For you, and for us it would seem, sex is related to love. Your powers have to be strong enough to do it. You weren’t there yet with Bryant. But since you killed that demon and lived through being locked up by a madman? Yes, you’re strong enough. The journey was always a screwed up. No one ever likes it, but there it is.”

“Who made this plan?” I looked between them. “Those flying birds?”

“The angels?” Kieran grinned. “Do they look like birds to you?”

“‘Spirits’ is a better word.” Milo yawned. “They’re spirits. They helped us, introduced us to each other. Chose us for you and vice versa. Kismet. Or something.”

I picked at my eggs. I needed to eat something. Still, they were giving me enough information to digest I wasn’t sure my body could take anything else inside. “Why would they introduce us, pick us for each other, and then lock you up when I had to face an original?”

Bryant took my hand in his. “So you could be this. So you could be sitting in this kitchen right now, the most powerful Sister alive, maybe ever. So we would know we’d do anything for you. We already knew, but we really know it now. Because from suffering comes light. Or something like that. We hate it, too. But that’s what they say.”

“They talk to you?” How did any of this work? “Because they all but abandoned me. If Daniella hadn’t been showing up in my dreams every so often, I might have gone crazy.”

“They talk to Milo mostly. Sometimes the rest of us. Mostly him.”

He rolled his eyes. “Lucky me.”

“We love you, Anne.” Bryant brushed my hair out of my eyes. “We’re so sorry. We didn’t know or understand. If we had, we’d never have agreed to be out cold, trapped really, when you needed us. It’ll never happen again.”

“Thing is”—it was hard for me to even think about that night—“you were all sleepwalking, wanting me, but I wasn’t willing. I never will be if you’re not awake to know what you’re doing. Sex magic notwithstanding, or whatever you called it.”

Garret leaned forward. “What did he call it?”

Bryant shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“He called it sex magic. But that’s just the problem. You had no idea. You were trapped in masks in a dream world so we could all suffer, but your body was out here offering itself to me. How awful would that be?” I cringed at the thought.

“Honey.” Kieran grinned. “Assume consent with me. You’ve always got it.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Can’t do that.”

Mason drummed his fingers on the table. “I wonder if they were trying to get us to co-join before the battle. Help her out? They knew we wouldn’t say no.”

“I say no. There won’t be any co-joining while you’re not awake. Why would any of you have agreed to this? You what? Met my soul and decided it would be fun to be always miserable, running around with me down here in an endless cycle of horror after horror?” Dr. Cooperman’s eyes passed over me, and I shuddered. “Sounds like a stupid decision. You’re all incredible. You could do better than this.”

Milo reached across the table to touch my hand. “You were always the most beautiful soul there was. I can remember those times. They can’t. It’s okay. Trust me, we were glad to be your fighters in this world. Isn’t it wonderful? We’ve always been family. We’ve always been yours. And once the full co-joining happens, we can take care of you when you fight the demons too. You’re going to feel so much better, and so are we.”

“Right now what she feels is that it’s like she’s been locked in a cage for a year.” Mason entered the conversation. “And no, I can’t read your mind, just feel a little bit of what you do now. Eat something please, and then go rest.”

Bryant spooned some eggs and practically shoved them in my mouth. I chewed and swallowed because he gave me no choice. “You need to get stronger. You’re barely free of the infection, and you’re paler again. We can’t stay here long. Cooperman had a calendar of you that was booked for months. Those people are going to want to find you. We need to be long gone.”

“I can do whatever you need.”

His eyes gentled. “I know you can. So for now, get better. That’s what I need.”

I turned from him, a few questions still on the tip of my tongue. “Garrett, you learned all this from books?”

“Books. Old wise men. Milo talking to the birds—I like calling them birds. The little bit the birds talked to me. The Sisterhood is defunct. Every one of those initiates should be with their chosen five. The Sisters shouldn’t be doing this without them. It’s a broken system. How do you defeat evil without love? We were called to come, we came, it was all ordained.”

My head hurt, and my eyes felt like they might burst out of their sockets. I needed to go to bed; instead I spoke out what I should have kept to myself. “All ordained. The time in the cage, pre-destined. The pain, I agreed to it. Whatever you’ve been through, you said yes to that, too. Because you were all meant for me. What about Beth then? Maybe Milo was meant for me, but the rest of you tried out Beth first, right? Any other Sisters? Just sleep around until one wants to co-join?” I stood, pushing the chair back with a sharp bump on my hip. “I’m sorry. That’s not fair of me. Maybe you shouldn’t have spent a year looking for me. I’m t—tired. And I hope Cooperman’s dead. I really hope he is. He and his sons. I hope you killed him, and I don’t know if that can reconcile with the part of me that is never supposed to feel that way.” I turned. “Forgive me, I’m a mess.”

I wasn’t proud of the way I ran away from them.

 

I lay in the bed. Bryant was right. I was feeling sick again. The fever was probably coming back. I deserved it. I had no business yelling at people who said they loved me and had spent a year looking for me. The door swung open, and Garrett walked in, closing it behind him. He kicked off his shoes. Like Mason, he seemed bigger than he had before.

He crawled into bed with me. “Sorry, Annie. We can’t leave you alone right now. You shouldn’t sleep alone until you’re feeling more solid. You need us. We need you. We know when you need us and vice versa. Your energy needs one of us. You’re getting me.”

“I …” How was I to respond to that?

He lay down on his back and patted the bed next to him. “Cuddle in.”

I did as he said. When I pressed into his side, he sighed like he enjoyed the feeling. Maybe he was annoyed by what I’d said, but it didn’t seem to bother him right then.

“I never had sex with Beth. Nor did any of the others.” He cleared his throat. “It didn’t follow the plan that we spent some time with her as her guards. We should have found you first. But I think Beth needed people who could be kind to her and not tell anyone her secrets. We were that. Then when Katrina found out, she acted like the whole thing had been our fault. She moved us to you, thinking you, as her niece, would be like her. Honestly? We were terrified. But then you came outside, and even through the hood you had the kindest eyes. I fell for you instantly, which makes sense since that was what I was supposed to do and wanted back.”

I let the sound of his voice wash over me. They’d never slept with Beth. It shouldn’t have mattered, and yet it did. My shoulders sagged. I’d been through too much to be carrying such a ridiculous burden. I guessed I’d never really been able to let it go.

“Katrina lied to me.”

He ran his fingers through my hair. “She does a lot of lying.”

“I’m sorry.”

He snuggled closer, draping one leg over mine. “It’s okay. We assumed you knew about Beth. It never dawned on us to tell you.”

“Knew what?” I took his hand in mine.

“She prefers the company of other women. Somewhere out there are five women who were called here for her. They don’t know it because they’ll never get to her. Beth is cut off from her destiny, and she’ll never know it, not as long as she stays with Katrina.”

Garrett smelled like cinnamon. I hadn’t scented it in so long. Had he been cooking? “Katrina’s guards left her.”

He was silent, and I wondered if he didn’t have an answer for me. “Remember that whole ‘she lies a lot’ thing?”

Frank poofed into existence across the room, and I jolted. Garrett reared up. “What’s wrong?”

I had really hoped he was gone, that now I was safe with the guards—or as safe as I could be—Frank would disappear into nothingness, a figment of my time in captivity that I need not see again.

“Annie?” Garrett smoothed my hair off my face. “Talk to me.”

“The original demon I sent away during my battle follows me around. I’ve taken to calling him Frank.” I pointed at the corner. “He’s there.”

Frank smiled, his red face looking more deranged for the effort. “Say hi to Garrett for me.”

I hated to do it. “He says hi.”

Garrett narrowed his eyes at the corner of the room. “I don’t see him. We can see originals, right?”

I nodded. He was going to get where this was going fast. “You can.”

“And your powers aren’t on. We know they work. They turned on when I came into the basement. You glowed. That’s how I saw you.”

I took his hands in mine. “I know the logical conclusion. I’ve gone there myself. He’s not real. He’s a figment, an illusion only I see, a sign of my battered mind.”

Garrett sucked in an audible breath. “You’re stronger than you’ve ever been right now. I know you don’t feel that way yet. I promise you are. I can feel it. You co-joined Mason. The demon illusion will go away. Or maybe not. I don’t know of anyone else who’s ever taken out an original. Maybe there’s some kind of backlash.”

I kissed him. Garrett was so inherently kind I couldn’t not bring his lips to mine. He could have handled the Frank situation differently. He hadn’t made me feel crazy. I kissed and kissed and kissed him. He let me. Eventually, he pulled me closer into his embrace.

Love magic …

One second I was kissing him, and the next I stood watching him in a memory, as I’d done with Mason. I’d travelled into his head. We were back on the train where we’d been separated. He jerked awake with a scream and dashed off the bed.

“Annie.” Everyone else was still asleep. They wouldn’t rouse until later. One at a time. He was barefoot and out the door fast.

I chased after him. He called my name over and over again. He didn’t have weapons and was hardly dressed. What did he think was going to happen? I could see it on his face; he didn’t care.

The scene outside the train was a disaster. I hadn’t realized how bad it was because I’d been preoccupied with fighting, surviving, and then I’d been taken.

“Not dead. Not dead. Not dead.” He spoke the words even as he threw himself into the crowd of possessed. From my vantage point, I knew he wasn’t anywhere near where I’d gone down or been taken. Still, he tossed the possessed aside using only his bare hands to search for me. One after another after another.

I watched as the realization I wasn’t there hit him. He grabbed the side of the train. The possessed he’d been throwing around came toward him. He stood still. Oh by the Divinity, what was he doing? Was he going to let them attack him?

“Garrett,” I cried out, even knowing this was the past and he couldn’t hear me. “Move. Move, Garrett.”

“Hey.” Like he’d read my mind, Kieran rushed from the train. He was better clothed than Garrett, but not much. He at least had on shoes. He jumped from the train and pulled Garrett with him, tugging him by his shirt even as Garrett did nothing to help him. “We can’t save her if you’re dead.”

This seemed to wake Garrett up. He nodded once and climbed back onto the train. “She’s not dead.”

“She’s not.”

Garrett slumped for a second against Kieran, who held him still. “Thanks.”

“Anytime, brother. Let’s go find our girl.”

I pushed back into my own body to find Garrett staring at me, his eyes white. I touched his face, and he leaned into my palm. “Not my finest moment, Anne.”

“I’d be devastated if I thought you were dead, too.” I kissed his lips. “Your eyes … does it feel okay?” Mason liked it, but I couldn’t be sure they all would.

He took me in his arms. “Like I finally came home.”

“How sweet.” Frank interrupted our moment. “You combined his fate to yours, and he’s thanking you for it. Kind of pathetic, actually.”

Garrett surged upwards, pointing at the corner. “I can see him.”

Grabbing the blanket, I tugged it to my chin. “You can?”

“He’s really there.”

Frank rolled his black eyes. “Of course I am.”

I think I preferred to be crazy.