breathed as she absorbed Skye’s knowledge through their link.
Skye left the past behind him and opened his eyes, “Now I want you to try it.”
He smiled again when Aurora tilted her head to the side and turned her attention to the book under her fingers. He quickly came into her mind and shared the experience as the first words she’d ever read began to drift through her mind and into his.
Chapter 4
Needing something to do, the boys had made their way to the kitchen where Michael poured both of them a glass of red wine.
Michael inhaled deeply, still feeling a slight rush of power from the demon hunting he’d done earlier in the day. He smirked in satisfaction knowing he could give that rush a boost as soon as he got the chance to get back out there among the demons. He glanced up and caught Kane watching him closely then frowned when the blonde quickly lowered his eyes to the drink and picked it up.
“So,” Michael picked his own glass up becoming suspicious, “how is it that you showed up at the same time that Aurora and Skye were coming to visit?”
Kane shrugged, “Kriss and Dean invited Tabatha and I over for dinner and they showed up so we turned it into a dinner party. They mentioned they were headed over here and I figured since I haven’t really had a chance to talk to you I just wanted to… check in.”
Michael frowned, “You weren’t getting smokes this time?”
“Not this time,” Kane answered with a grin but his humor abruptly vanished. Since Michael was already becoming paranoid he might as well do a little fishing. Not one to beat around the bush he opted for the truth. “Dean told me he saw you earlier today.”
“Yeah, he did,” Michael said evasively, already not liking the direction the conversation appeared to be heading.
“He also said you were drinking from a demon,” Kane said bluntly and set his glass down. “When did you start doing that?”
Michael didn’t miss a beat with the lie, “When the thing decided to bite me first.”
Kane’s lips parted to say something but what could he say to that? Picking his glass back up, he took another drink while he thought about that one.
Seeing Kane’s sudden frown Michael laid it on a little thicker by adding some of the truth. “I caught the thing watching Aurora when I went to visit her earlier and followed its scent into an alley. I figured it would be an easy kill so I didn’t exactly have my guard up. The next thing I knew, it had latched its teeth in to my shoulder. It pissed me off so bad that I decided to bite back… I don’t think it was expecting that.”
“Probably not,” Kane murmured trying to hear Michael’s thoughts but the only feedback he was getting was a sense of guilt and craving which was kind of confusing so he quit trying.
Michael smirked as if the whole thing was funny. “It just so happened that its blood healed my wound almost instantly so I drank until it was dead. Problem solved.”
Kane cocked an eyebrow and saluted Michael with his glass before tipping it back and draining the rest of the red beverage. It sounded like a reasonable explanation but it still didn’t answer the question of why he’d been such a hard ass with Dean. He started to ask Michael what the demon’s blood had tasted like but decided to hold off for now. Besides… if he wanted to know bad enough, he could just bite one himself and find out.
For some misguided reason Misery’s rotting face flashed in Kane’s mind and he had to turn his back to Michael to keep his brother from seeing the disgusted expression that was twisting at his lips. He headed toward the refrigerator to find something that would wash the imaginary flavor out of his mouth.
Michael slid onto one of the barstools when he felt cold chills crawl across his body and he inwardly cursed when a thin film of perspiration formed on his forehead.
Talking about demon blood had only given him the urge to hunt and he desperately needed a distraction. He ran his hand through his long bangs hoping he hadn't just given Kane the idea of drinking demon blood. He could handle the power surges from it just fine but there was no telling how Kane would handle it and the last thing they needed was another breach between LA and the demon realm.
Michael shook himself out of his thoughts and turned his head to see Kane’s butt sticking out of the refrigerator.
“What the hell are you doing?” Michael demanded.
Kane reappeared with a pile of lunch meat, mayonnaise, mustard, black olives, lettuce, and a ripe tomato. “You have food… we’re eating.”
“I thought you just ate at Kriss’ place,” Michael growled still craving something much better than a sandwich. He wiped his sleeve across his forehead and focused on calming himself.
“Yeah, now I’m hungry again… and from the looks of things you’ve dropped a few pounds yourself,” Kane retorted seeing a little bit of Michael’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde personality switch.
Hoping the very old and potent wine would at least take the edge off, Michael poured them both more while Kane busied himself with making food.
“So, anything else on your mind?” he asked not liking the heavy silence.
Kane frowned as he arranged his stash on the bar, “Actually yeah, there is. Dean’s been hurt and I don’t think it’s healing all that well. It didn’t look too bad when he first showed it to me but as the night wore on I began to feel the sickness inside of him.”
“Samuel did manage to stab Dean with his Demon Blade,” Michael offered knowing they were both there to witness the hurting that blade had put on Ren. “Is that the wound you’re talking about?”
Kane nodded, “I’ve been thinking. If a Fallen Blade can kill Samuel… or any demon for that matter, then it stands to reason that a Demon Blade can kill a Fallen… right?”
“Right,” Michael nodded having found his distraction.
Kane started slicing the tomato with obscene speed, “We both know the mess that same Demon Blade made out of Ren, but Ren isn’t a Fallen and Dean is still alive. We cured Ren with the Fallen Blade which I’m assuming Dean and Kriss have since they are Fallen. But, if that’s what it takes to heal Dean then they would have used it by now and they obviously haven’t… so, a Fallen Blade must not be an option when it comes to healing a Fallen.”
Michael’s emotions stretched between anger over Samuel’s attempt on Aurora, and worry for Dean’s survival. “Samuel’s intent was to kill Aurora with the Demon Blade so yes… it’s safe to assume a Demon Blade can kill a Fallen.”
“You and Dean seem to have lot in common these days,” Kane informed Michael, glaring down at the masterpiece of a sandwich he was making.
“And what would that be?” Michael asked.
“You are both pretending that you’re fine when you are not,” Kane said bluntly.
“Okay Doctor Feel Good, but I’m not the one dying so you might want to focus on Dean and let me take care of myself.” Michael pointed out and gripped his glass a little tighter.
“True,” Kane said with a sigh. He knew he’d pushed Michael enough for the moment and he was probably right about Dean needing the most attention.
“How are Kriss and Tabatha?” Michael asked to change the topic.
“Kriss is getting better,” Kane smirked holding the knife up. “He doesn’t flirt with Tabatha anymore which is a good thing for his continued health. As for Tabatha…” Kane sighed dramatically and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Don’t want to know,” Michael held up his hands in defeat.
“You would if you had more sex,” Kane said coming to the quick conclusion that if Michael turned all of his attention to Aurora then whatever this demon