Perfect Storm Page 11

  “I’m fine,” she starts, before she pushes Eden’s hand away and smirks at her. “I don’t need to go back to sleep, Eden, so keep your hands off me. I know what you’re up to and it’s not going to work.”

  She backs up and puts a hand behind her back. Eden frowns at her, glancing at me and then Eli.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Sky.”

  “Oh, you know,” Sky says, pulling a gun out and pointing it at Eden.

  Eli is quick to draw his own. Holy shit, he’s fast with that thing. He trains it on Sky. “Put that down.”

  I grab Eden’s hand and haul her back as Eli confronts Sky. The instinct to protect her is so strong I don’t care that I’m in the line of fire by pulling her behind me.

  “What the hell, Sky?” I can’t help it, this doesn’t make sense. There’s waking up on the wrong side of bed and then there’s pulling a gun on your friends. I know Sky can be prickly, but this is off even for her. Then it hits me. This isn’t Skyler.

  Catherine found another way inside. She didn’t need Logan for this after all.

  Sky smiles brightly at Eli, pointing the gun upwards. “Oh, you misunderstand my intent, Sheriff. I’m not looking to kill Eden. I just want her to watch.”

  She puts the barrel under her chin and pulls the trigger. I gasp in a breath and turn away, pulling Eden in close and covering her eyes. The shot is so loud, everything else seems to fade into the background. Then I hear Sky crashing to the ground behind us and the walkie talkies start to go nuts.

  My heart is pounding wildly. I can’t hear anything above it now. I can see Eden screaming as she pulls away from me but my hearing is fucked. I only let her go because she’s not running toward Sky, she’s going for Lawson. I don’t know what’s happening, but Eden seems intent on waking the God up. I glance up and see Logan entering the room. He got out of his handcuffs. His gaze is cold as he looks toward Eli, who’s kneeling by Skyler’s side. I rush Logan as he makes an aggressive move towards my friend. We tumble to the ground and I can see he’s growling at me when we land.

  I don’t know if he’s being used or just being his usual prickish self. I have no way of working that out. So I don’t try to. I just fight to keep him on the ground. It happens in a blur of fists. I have to knock him out. It’s all I can think of. He stops moving and I push out a sigh that brings my hearing back, half relieved and half worried that I might have killed him. It can happen, I’ve seen it first-hand. A fist fight turning into murder. Two lives ruined in a moment of rage. The thought turns my stomach. I did what I had to do. Somehow those words are of little comfort.

  Then he sucks in a breath and throws me off. He was just playing dead. I’m not sure if that’s better or worse, until I realise I’m being crushed to the ground. Logan wouldn’t feel bad about murdering someone, accidentally or otherwise.

  I’m so fucking screwed right now. I struggle but I’m trapped under his weight and there’s no good move that would disable him. He smirks as he cuts off my air supply with his elbow. Panic settles in as I realise I can’t catch a breath, and I can’t push him off.

  The room starts swimming around me. Fuck. Did I just go and get myself killed? I slip into darkness, hoping I get to wake back up.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Eli

  When you see someone kill themselves right in front of you, the shock can paralyse. Everything seems to slow down. There isn’t time to stop her, but afterwards it feels like there should have been. I’d been too ready to shoot her to make her drop the gun, to realise the end game wasn’t to murder an immortal Goddess or one of her very mortal lovers.

  Why go for obvious, when you can kill Eden’s best friend instead? Only I don’t think this is an either or situation. Catherine wants to destroy Eden. She’s doing it by killing everyone she loves. This isn’t over, not by a long shot.

  I move forward when Sky’s body crumbles to the ground, the instinct to push forward and stop her coming when it’s already too late.

  Eden is screaming, “Skyler! No!”

  I hear her sobbing as I kneel before her friend’s body, looking down into her empty gaze. She’s gone. The bullet didn’t miss its target. I reach forward to close her eyes before I get back onto my feet.

  Logan’s at my side when I turn, a little too close, crouching toward Sky with concern in his gaze. “What happened?”

  “She’s dead.” I wonder how he got loose of his cuffs. Those were standard issue. Shouldn’t have been easy to remove. Something’s off about this.

  “I know,” Logan tells me, grabbing the gun from her hand and getting up. “I just needed this.”

  He points it at me and I fire into his wrist at point blank range with my own, forcing him to drop it. The sound of bone shattering is second only to his howl of pain. I kick him backwards, and he drops to the ground. This feels better. I hate it when a situation with a firearm gets out of control.

  “Stay down,” I warn him, picking the weapon up.

  Shit. It’s my back-up piece. Sky must have hunted my room to find it. Rather, Catherine must have made her do that. This situation is seriously messed up.

  Logan grasps his wounded wrist, scowling up at me. “Fuck! That goddamned bitch.”

  I look around and see Nick on the ground, out of it. My heart skips a beat as I watch until I see his chest rise and fall. I breathe a sigh of relief. He’s passed out, not dead. There’s one thing to be thankful for.

  “You’re going down for what you’ve done,” I tell Logan. I don’t care if she made him do it. He killed Eden’s fourth, and he tried to kill me. The guy is bad news.

  He starts to laugh. “What I’ve done? I’ve got dirt on you, Ramirez. Don’t forget that.”

  He knew I’d killed before him. I wonder how the hell he knew. I’d only ever told Eden.

  “Tell me how you know that, or I put a bullet through your heart right now.”

  He looks down and any trace of amusement bleeds out of his expression. “Diana found him. She touched his body and saw what had happened. She planned to use it against you when she found the right opportunity. She buried the bones. I know where they are.”

  Well, shit. That explains that, though I would have felt a little better if I could have shot this guy. Any way I look at it, seems like he’s going to be nothing but trouble.

  I glance over at the couch as Lawson rises, groaning. He sounds like he’s in agony.

  “Come on, you have to get up,” Eden is crying out. “There may not be any time left.”

  “What?” he asks in a whisper.

  “Sky just shot herself.” She bursts into tears and Lawson looks around wide-eyed.

  He leaps over the couch and runs to Sky’s side. The flash of blinding white light that fills the room seconds later makes me grimace. I turn away. Logan puts his good arm up over his eyes.

  It feels as if the room is throbbing, alive. I stumble away from Logan, holstering my gun before taking Eden into my arms and holding her tight. She sobs hysterically against my chest, whispering, “Please, please, please...”

  The light begins to recede after a few long minutes. Eden sniffs and pulls away, her expression anxious. I turn as Lawson’s gentle murmuring drifts across the room.

  “It’s okay, I promise. You’re going to be fine.”

  Who the hell is he talking to? Then I see, Sky is getting to her feet, helped by him. Holy shit. That was a resurrection? Eden runs over to hug her friend.

  “Oh, Sky, I was so worried.”

  Sky frowns, gazing over at me. “Why? What happened? What did I miss?”

  “It’s a long story,” Lawson tells her, putting his arm around her as Eden lets her go. “But it’s about time you were told the truth.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Eden

  I’m trembling as I sit down and manoeuvre myself under Nick’s legs. I sit there under his sleeping form, my light travelling into him through his thighs. I’m sure he’d find it hilarious that I’m using
my Goddess light so near his crotch. I just needed to be close to him while this shit is going down.

  Catherine effectively invaded my house and started tearing my world apart without even setting one foot inside. I can barely think straight anymore, much less plan on how I’m going to find a way to sneak out to find her and somehow deal with the bitch myself.

  My security team came inside after the shot was fired. I used my light to make them forget it. There was no good explanation and I didn’t want to risk something getting back to Eli’s deputies about a gun being shot in my house while he was here. Now we were sitting together trying to pull a plan out of our asses while the shock of what had happened was still sinking in.

  On the upside, Sky’s death made Lawson pull himself together. He brought her back, and he started telling her everything. In typical Skyler fashion, she was swinging back and forth between asking weird questions and throwing out sceptical statements. She might not believe everything right now, but she would eventually. The main thing was, she was alive and no longer at risk of being used by Catherine. There was only one person in this room now who could be.

  “Are you okay?” Eli’s voice is soft as his arm wraps around my shoulders from behind.

  “I’ll be fine,” I murmur, wishing I truly felt I would. I’ve never felt so ready to give up my power. People have died because of my actions. It doesn’t matter if my intentions were good. I’ll never be able to wash the blood off of my hands. All I can do right now is try not to cause more damage.

  I glance across at Logan who’s been cuffed to the curtain pole. He smiles wryly at me before letting his gaze drift out the window. Eli fixed up his wrist, bandaged it and chained him to the pole using his good arm. He didn’t put up any fuss, just shrugged and admitted he wasn’t to be trusted.

  Lawson has managed to get Sky calm enough to sit with us, though she does keep coming up with random questions that all of us are way too tired for.

  “So are Gods like vampires?” Sky asks, making Logan snort and Lawson smile.

  I gasp out, “Oh, shit. Asher.”

  “Asher’s a vampire?” Sky asks with a raised eyebrow.

  “No, he’s not home yet.” I start to move and Logan blows out a breath, making me still.

  “Oh, yeah. Asher. Almost forgot about that.” He turns back to face the room.

  “What? Where is he?” My insides are twisting up as I take in Logan’s grim expression.

  “He came by at lunch time, asked me to show him where I buried Catherine. He wanted to make sure she wasn’t a problem.” He gives an awkward one-sided shrug. “We went out to that town between here and Haleton. I blacked out. Woke up next to a dead body. I’m pretty sure Asher was killed too, but we all know that’s not really a problem for him...”

  What the hell kind of answer is that? “Where is he, Logan?”

  “He’s in the trunk I buried Catherine in. I think she thought it was funny to have him put there. It wasn’t buried but it’s locked and I couldn’t find the key. I didn’t think there was time to waste hauling the box out of that basement and bringing him back with me. I know where he is. We can go get him when this is all done.”

  My stomach churns at the thought of Asher left someplace dark alone. He’d been a little claustrophobic as a kid. I have no idea if he outgrew that fear, but I don’t like the thought of him reviving alone in a cramped dark place regardless. “I have to go get him.”

  “You can’t,” Lawson tells me, his tone firm. “That smells like a trap, Eden. From what I can tell if she killed him he won’t revive for at least twelve hours. So he won’t know where he is. He doesn’t need to be rescued right away. He’s not the urgent issue here.”

  No, I suppose not. I try to calm the impulse within me to rush to Asher’s side. It’s not easy, but I need to focus on the real problem here. Catherine. So what the hell do we do about her? I take in a slow, shaking breath and nod. “Right. So how do we take down Catherine before she hurts anyone else?”

  I keep my gaze on Lawson, because he’s the only one who might know. His expression is dark, and it only seems to become more so the longer I stare at him. He sighs deeply and runs a hand over his hair.

  “She doesn’t have a heart to appeal to,” he says slowly. “You won’t be able to reach her with your light even if she does land on the doorstep and hold out her arm for you to touch. There is no hope buried deep inside. She is remorseless.”

  Logan starts to laugh. I can feel his pain through it and I want to go to him. Then I look down at Nick, who’s still unconscious, and I’m too mad to feel anything else.

  “You killed that God in L.A. with a sword,” I tell Lawson, wondering if that’s what it’s going to take to rid us of Catherine.

  He grimaces. “Getting close enough to her to do that will be difficult.”

  “So what else is there?” I honestly don’t know. I wish I did. One idea pulls at me. All of this goes away if I give up on being a Goddess and accept my place as a mortal. Surely, that’s the best option?

  Lawson shakes his head slowly. “There is another way, but you will need to appeal to your guide to have him help you.”

  “What is it?”

  “Her guide?” Sky asks with a quirked eyebrow.

  Lawson’s stare becomes more intense. I realise he’s about to tell me something he doesn’t want anyone else to hear, a second before I hear his voice inside my head.

  When you looked at Logan while Eli chained him up, I searched your memories.

  I frown at him. You did? And what did you find?

  That he is in pain because Catherine killed his lover and the child they were going to have together.

  I don’t understand. Explain what that has to do with anything.

  The child would have been born with potential. She thinks as a Goddess that means no rules can bind her, but an exception can be made in this instance. It is not our way to slaughter children.

  I let the information sink in as Sky’s gaze drifts suspiciously from Lawson to me.

  What do I need to do to have an exception be made?

  Call on your guide and tell him to take it to his court. A decision will be made swiftly. They will strip her of her immortality. Then she can be killed.

  I ignore his last comment. It’s coming from a dark place. But the rest could help us sort this out before there’s more bloodshed. I nod. How do I call on Cupid? He never comes when I need his help. Why should this be any different?

  “I cannot take this to the court,” Cupid whispers in my ear.

  I jump in my seat, turning to see Eli scowl at our sudden visitor. He moves to sit next to me, proving his form is less than solid when it sinks through Nick’s feet. He reclines in a relaxed pose.

  “Miss me?” Sounding more like himself, he shoots me a grin.

  “Holy shit,” Sky exclaims, staring him over. “Who’s the ghost?”

  “This is... Fred,” I tell her, blowing out a breath. “He’s my guide and I need to speak to him.”

  “Alone,” Cupid says, touching my arm.

  I blink and the room changes. We’re upstairs in the master bedroom now.

  I frown at him. “Where have you been?”

  “Why do you insist on wasting precious time with asinine questions?” He sighs. “I can’t help you this time, Eden.”

  “I don’t understand. Wasn’t what she did really fucking wrong?” I can’t think of anything worse, in all honesty. Something else is going on here, and he’d better be ready to tell me what.

  “If we try to do what Lawson told you we could do, the elders will need to look at every detail that led to this situation. They’ll know Diana’s arm was twisted to get her to cave in to her desire to fall in love. They’ll believe I favored you.”

  He sounds tense and his voice never raises above a whisper. My stomach churns as I realise he really isn’t going to help me this time.

  “I need you,” I tell him. “I don’t understand any of this. You haven’t been help
ing me. I don’t know what to do.”

  He begins to pace the room. I can tell there’s something he wants to tell me, but he’s not sure he should say it. Damn. Why didn’t I get Lawson to teach me to read minds before he showed back up?

  “A destructive forces Goddess doesn’t need to be capable of love to be made mortal.”

  I take in his words and cross my arms. “What does that mean?”

  “You’re not at full strength, Eden. You need to take a fourth to get there. All of the stuff Lawson can do happened when he loved the right number of people for his powers to fully manifest.”

  Finally, we’re getting somewhere. Though I don’t know how it can help me to know this when the man who was meant to be my fourth is dead.

  He blows out a breath. “Blake was only a potential for your fourth. These things are not set in stone. There are other potentials.”

  “There are?” I’m a little confused. “But when that God...”

  “He was talking about Logan.”

  “Logan?” It doesn’t make sense. “Logan rejected me. He couldn’t accept things the way I need them to be. I don’t understand.”

  Cupid shrugs. “Love doesn’t always make sense, Eden. Logan is a potential. I told you before if you pushed him away he’d come back with a better attitude. He already loves you so he’s the easy choice here. You can be at full strength within the hour if he agrees to your conditions now.”

  I shake my head. “No. He tried to kill Asher. Eli tried to kill him to protect me, and Nick hates him. I can’t let Logan become my fourth. What are the other options? Where are my other potentials?”

  “You haven’t met all of them,” he grumbles.

  “So I’ve met some of them?” I wonder who they are. I must have met them while I was mortal. I had so many fleeting crushes while I was with Hunter. The desire to be loved by more than one man was always there, beneath the surface.

  “Logan is the best choice right at this moment, Eden.”

  “I don’t want to be forced into taking a fourth out of circumstance,” I snap at him. Never mind that I still love Logan, that some part of me will never feel complete without him. Too much has passed between us. It wouldn’t be easy to work through it all. I have three lovers’ feelings to consider too.