in a flirty smirk, his golden eyes flashing with a hint of mischief. He continued walking, moving close to her and leaning in toward her ear when he spoke next. Lowering his tone to something just north of a whisper, “Jibreel, thank you for inviting me back into your home.” He couldn’t help but tease them. They were without true male companionship in Arcadia.
She sighed and then noticed the other two Goddesses looking at him as well and stood up straight to regain an authoritative posture. “Our creatures in the Unseen tell us Joss is being held by the Empusa; this is good news for you. It gives you plenty of time to train the girl and prepare her for your journey into Sheol.”
“Train the girl for our journey into Sheol? You have to realize what you’re saying is absurd.”
The ethereal blonde to his left immediately became more animated. “Djinn! You will not speak this way to Jibreel! With a wave of my hand I could end your life. It would, in fact, be a pleasure. I do not share Jibreel’s affection for creatures like you. Whether above ground or below, I would end you all. I see how dangerous you all are. And you, specifically, Nias.”
I dare you to try, he thought, but made sure not to show his feelings about her threats openly. He spoke to them with a deep, composed voice. “You know as well as I, no living human belongs in Sheol.” He inwardly shuddered at the memories of his time there … of what he was tasked to do. “I can certainly handle anything they can throw at me. What possible good can come from me training her?”
“You are the most capable warrior available. You know why Phaeton cannot go; he needs to retain his position as Sovereign of the Djinn Sentry. To leave the humans unguarded would bring chaos. We require your help, and your brother needs you.”
The Goddess Eeia had intentionally used Phaeton’s new title to gauge Nias’s reaction, he knew, and was sure she was not disappointed as he bristled at the sound of it. “Unquestionably I will go for Joss, but the woman, I don’t need her. I won’t take her.” Do not order me to take her, come on, girls, do not make me take the beautiful trouble, Nias silently pleaded.
“If she has retained the Gifts she will ease your passage. For your brother, for the balance, you will take her. Are her powers legitimate? Could you feel her?” Oh yeah, he was feeling her all right, way too much, in fact.
“Yes, yes, she has powers.” He knew then he had lost this argument. For his brother he would take the girl. “She is stronger than I have ever felt from a human. The empathic Gifts granted to Jade are definitely potent.” Speaking of the girl brought on a reaction in him he didn’t know what to do with. He found himself shifting from one cloud-covered combat boot to the other. I do not shift uncomfortably, he thought. He corrected himself once again, retaking his typical firm, masculine stance. Gritting his teeth, Nias lowered his head slightly and exhaled, resigned to the course the Goddesses had set him on.
Damn.
Jade figured she must have blacked out, because one moment she was walking home from the bookstore after staying, despite Matt’s protests, and the next she was inside what looked to be a large amazing loft space. She was inside someone’s home. She dropped to her knees, hitting a cold, hard floor, and then she fell into a kind of shock.
She started muttering to herself, “Okay, this is too weird. I was just outside, and the sky was dark. Now I’m in somebody’s loft, where I can plainly see out that window,” she pointed a dizzy finger toward the floor-to-ceiling casement, “the sun isn’t even down; it is clearly twilight out there.” She was talking to herself out loud, to hear her own voice more than anything. She turned her body to figure out exactly where she was, and her chin ran smack into the denim-covered legs and steel-toed combat boots of the man who was responsible. And she screamed as loud as she could.
Nias fell to his knees and put his hand over her mouth.
“Woman, you are obviously upset, and at this point I can understand that, but if you would stop with the screeching and remain calm, I can explain everything.”
That was good because she wanted some answers. “Where am I? How did I get here? Did I pass out? Did you give me drugs? Are you some kind of kidnapper? If you are, I will let you know now you definitely have the wrong girl. I haven’t a dime in the world, so you might as well just save yourself the trouble and let me go!” Her words came out rapid-fire, a battering tempest of chatter that she could see nearly overwhelmed him.
In response to her questioning this large dark-haired man merely began to laugh out loud.
“I’m sorry, did I amuse you?” She squinted up at him.
“No, hellion, I just find your way of communication different, that’s all, and no I am not a kidnapper, I have not given you drugs, you did not pass out, and you are in California; San Francisco to be precise. As for the way you got here, I transcended us.”
“You what?”
“I transcended us – a process Daemons use to move around.”
“Daemons?” She looked up to take a real, solid look at this maniac…and ran smack into the eyes of the gorgeous man from the physical disturbance this morning in her bookstore. Criminy, I have been abducted by the hottest lunatic ever. Jade looked around her, trying to assess the likelihood that she could escape and outrun him. She saw an open window and on the opposite side of what seemed to be a living room, the front door. Door is further, but I probably won’t break a leg if I go for the door. Door it is. She shoved him away and was up and running!
Before she took three steps, he was in front of her, a giant wall of muscle. She turned on the tips of her replacement stilettos and bolted for the window. This time he gave her five steps. He was in front of her again. Mr. Tall, Dark, and Broody gently picked her up with one of his arms behind her back, swung her legs up and over his other arm and carried her to the divan, where he smoothly sat her down and smiled.
“Can I continue? Or would you like to take another turn about the room? If it’s exercise you’re looking for I can think of much better ways to expend your energy.” He folded his arms, as if daring her to make another run for it. His golden eyes flickered with unmistakable amusement.
“Oh, for crying out loud, fine. I will listen to what you have to say. Only because you outweigh me by at least a hundred pounds, are way quicker than I am, and clearly you are willing to use force to have your way.” She was waving her index finger in the air, much like Matt did when he got excited. “But stop grinning at me; I am a hostage, not a plaything.”
“Pity.” His eyes did a swift head-to-toe assessment of her body. “I can assure you I wish this could be done any other way. Unfortunately the circumstances at hand have forced me into your life.”
“That I can see,” she hissed.
“Jade, I’m afraid our time together has just begun,” he said, squinting his eyes a bit. “I, or rather my family and I, require your assistance, and your gifts. We know you have the ability to sense emotion; we also know you can, in various degrees, affect emotions around you. Also your ability to tell if beings are lying may come in handy as well.”
“How in the world could you know that? Or my name? Who the hell are you?” If it were possible, this conversation was starting to freak her out even more than what had already happened.
“My name is Nias, and let’s just say I have it on the best authority.”
“Well, then, Nias, do you know where this curse came from? Can you tell me?” She wasn’t sure why it had come out as a question and not a demand; maybe it was fear at finally having an answer. What she did know was even discussing its origin made her recall all the pain and sadness it had brought into her life. If there were a way to find out where it came from, possibly there would be a way to get rid of it. She would do almost anything to accomplish that.
“That, I cannot do. I am not at liberty to inform you of any more than you have to know in order to help us.”
“Why am I even having this conversation, then? For all