Relic (The Brethren Series) Read online

  “Are you sure? That’s crazy! You seem nice enough. Why would someone want to do something so evil like that to you?” He loaded on the sugar.

  “I don’t know! I…I don’t have any enemies I can think of.” She gnawed on a fingernail. “Oh, my gosh! What am I going to do now? Do you know how much tires cost these days? I don’t even have a spare. I used it up for the last flat tire I had. I’m gonna have to call a tow truck!”

  “Listen, I have a spare in my trunk. I could let you use it until you get a new tire. I have a friend upstairs that’ll be here a while, and I’m sure we’ll see each other occasionally.”

  “Oh, I couldn’t, really.”

  Of course she would say that. Women never said what they meant.

  “It’s really not a problem. If you’re worried about paying me or anything, there is something you could do for me. It’s just a little thing.”

  “Little’s all I got. What can I do for you?”

  She’s baited.

  “While my buddy’s been in here, someone else I know came in as well. Could you tell me what room number she’s in?” He figured the hospital probably changed Serena’s room since his attack on her.

  “Oh, that’s an easy one. Give me her name, and I’ll find out for you.”

  She’s hooked!

  “Her name is Serena Sikes.” Almost there, Bull, almost there.

  “Let me see. Oh, not so easy. It seems Serena Sikes has been discharged. I’m sorry.” She smiled apologetically.

  What? Damn it all! He nearly reached over and strangled the woman. Instead, he smiled through gritted teeth. “Could you tell me when?”

  “Noon today.”

  “Do you have an address for her? She moved, and I haven’t gotten the opportunity to get her new address down.”

  “Oh, I can’t give out that kind of information.” She played with the fringe of hair framing her face. “I’d get fired.”

  “I promise I won’t say anything to anyone. You promised you’d do something in exchange for a tire.” He smiled back.

  “Well…okay. Give me a minute.”

  Reel her in, boys! She is so easy.

  Gertrude tapped on her computer keys for what seemed like an eternity. She scribbled something down on a piece of paper, folded it, and gave it to him.

  “Thanks a million, sugar. Now I’ll go and change out your bum tire with my spare. When your shift is over, it’ll be ready for you.” He started walking away toward the entrance.

  “Oh, thank you so much! I really appreciate it! Hey, by the way, what’s your name?” But the door had already closed behind him. Bull looked down at the slip of paper she’d given him.

  Jackpot! Just like he thought, people were idiots. He walked passed her car, and for the hell of it, slashed another tire.

  Chapter Eleven

  Raphael watched Serena all through the night. As long as Kemuel and he were around, there was no rush to get her back to the safe house. She needed rest more than anything else. And he needed the reassurance that only being with her gave him. He had no clue what the morning would bring, but if he were a betting man, he’d bet on her kicking his ass out of there and getting a restraining order against him.

  As if the situation weren’t horrendous enough, he still had to tell her about Jared. He’d been holding off, waiting for her to be stronger, but every minute that passed seemed to bring with it new problems. Lord only knew when she’d really be strong enough to handle it. In reality, there was never a good time to tell someone their brother’s dead.

  “What do you want from me?” Serena suddenly shouted.

  Raphael jumped in his chair, ready to respond, when he realized her eyes were closed.

  “Oh God, someone save me!” she cried out.

  He took a moment to see if she would work herself out of the nightmare on her own. But she began whipping her arms about and thrashing her legs, so he decided to step in. He didn’t want her reinjuring herself if she kept it up. As he reached out to her, she awoke abruptly with a shriek and sat straight up. Being human, Serena couldn’t see Raphael sitting right beside her in the blackness. She struggled for her next breath, pushed back her long curls that had been violently tossed about, and began crying softly. His heart ached to relieve the terror and pain. He spoke.

  “Serena, sweetheart. I’m here. You’re safe.” He could see her squinting and blinking, her eyes trying to find something to focus on and coming up empty. Being an angel, he had no trouble seeing in darkness. Right now, he didn’t see his goddess. He saw a broken woman holding onto a tenuous thread of sanity.

  “Raphael?” Serena gasped and reached out, groping the air for him. It’s one thing to show bravado in the daylight, but now he knew her to be a fraud. And in the darkness he could see how terribly vulnerable she really felt.

  “Raphael, help me, please!” she whispered franticly, swiping fruitlessly at her tears. “I’m so frightened! He’s coming for me, I know it. They’re all coming for me, and I’m going to die. Oh God, Raphael, I don’t want to die!”

  Promises be damned, Raphael went to her quickly and enveloped her in his arms of pure angelic power and strength. She clung to him with a viselike grip, her cheeks soaked with tears, her body trembling furiously. He kissed her hair, sending what little bits of healing he could muster across the threaded connections he’d woven between them earlier, and cursed his impotent position.

  “Serena, you’re not going to die, sweetheart. I’m here and nothing and no one can harm you now. I’m here,” he murmured, gently massaging her back and shoulders. Gradually, her hold on him lessened. He could feel her pulling away slightly but then found her hand cupping his cheek. Her touch, tremulous and tender, evoked a memory of a love held dearly, and lost. He sucked in a breath.

  “I can feel you but I can’t see you. Are you real, Raphael? Or am I still dreaming? Please tell me you’re real,” she pleaded.

  “I’m as real as this,” Raphael answered, as he caressed her chin and trailed his hand to the nape of her neck. Time stood still as he lowered his lips to hers, in a kiss that although gentle at first, soon became one of all-consuming passion.

  Shockwaves coursed throughout her body straight to her soul. Just one kiss, but it was unrelenting, as though his lips had found their rightful place on hers and would never let them part. An image of her faceless dream lover came storming through her mind, and she knew at that moment that Raphael and he were one and the same.

  When he liberated his lips from hers, she proved to be unwilling to relinquish them. She rested her forehead against his chest, breathless and reeling by the shocking revelation. He’s truly the man of my dreams, the man who claimed to be an angel and immortal! But how on earth could that be?

  With his arms securely around her, she let go her fears and found a kind of boldness only the darkness could provide. “You’ve haunted my dreams since I held the relic, Raphael, but I could never see your face. And now, I still can’t see you, but I know you. You’ve come to me every night for so long, a faceless man who shares a love and passion unmatched by any man I’ve ever known. It’s you who comes in the night to stir the fires in my body and leaves me cold and alone by daybreak. It’s truth. I know it in my heart. I’m not crazy here.”

  Raphael’s heart fluttered against her cheek and his entire body tensed, seemingly strangled by emotion. Serena felt the change in him. Does he know of me in this way as well? He isn’t saying anything. Why is he silent?

  “You said you’re an angel, immortal. I don’t know. Maybe you’re the one who’s crazy. But I don’t care, you see. All I know is, when you’re near me, I feel better. When you kiss me, it feels like we’ve kissed for a thousand years. You…you feel like home. So, if you want to believe you’re an angel, fine, go right ahead. You want to believe you’re immortal, all the power to you. For now though, I need you to hold me, and don’t let go.”

  Serena reached her hands out to find his face once more and guided him to her ready lips. She n
uzzled, nibbled, and teased with her tongue until they were both swept away again by the magic of it all.

  Through the kisses he trailed down her jaw to her throat, he murmured, “But I am an angel, sweetheart.”

  “Show me, Raphael.” Her voice sultry with need. “Let me see you, angel.”

  Without another word, he stood up and she heard the rustling of him removing his shirt. Rays of golden light spilled out around him as his wings unfurled. And finally, Serena could see.

  She blinked and blinked again, but the vision in front of her never wavered. And oh, what a vision. There Raphael stood, a realization of godlike perfection, naked but for his low-riding jeans. Serena’s eyes skimmed over his abdomen, chest, and arms, his beauty reminding her of Olympian Gods with their bodies sculpted in marble. The way his hair played about his rugged jaw and shoulders made her yearn to feel it brush against her own skin. Just thinking about it sent tingling sensations across her skin.

  Her gaze fell upon his wings. Where others may have run away out of fear, Serena remained steady, drawn to them, mesmerized by their breathtaking beauty. Entranced, she slowly moved the bed sheets aside, swung her legs around, and touched her feet to the floor. Her eyes never faltered as she arose from the bed, with an arm involuntarily outstretched, eager to touch such magnificence.

  Somewhere, in the deepest recesses of her mind, she recognized those pure white and iridescent wings that spanned the length of his body, and how silky and seductive they would feel when she touched them. She remembered, if she touched those blessed wings in just such a way, the ecstasy it would produce for him. Somehow she knew all this, and it frightened her. These were not the memories of dreams she’d had of him. Not at all. She withdrew her arm and slumped on the edge of her bed, her heart racing and her brow beading with sweat. How did she know all of this? She’d been holding her breath and now gasped for air.

  “Serena,” Raphael called out, and grabbed a hold of her shoulders. “Easy now, breathe easy. That’s it.” He hugged her to him and rubbed her back. “Jesus, I knew this was a bad idea,” he muttered, “but I don’t seem to be listening to myself a lot lately. I should have kept my big mouth shut and off of your lips.”

  With her breathing returning to normal, Serena managed to speak and placed a reassuring hand on his. “I’m okay, really. This is remarkable, unbelievable, but it’s true. I’m not dreaming and I know what I’m seeing before me. You’re really an angel….” She had stopped talking, lost in thought.

  “Serena? What’s up? Talk to me.”

  “I don’t know. Something, something is going on here. I can’t explain it. I’ll go back with you to the safe house, but we need to get Monica Rainchild out there, too. I need her,” she pressed.

  There is no way I’m going to divulge to him what I just experienced, what impossible memories I’ve uncovered, the intimacy I felt just by seeing his wings. Something is up all right, and I need Monica’s help to figure it out.

  Raphael moved to lay on her bed. She’s hiding something from me, I know it. “It’s not yet dawn, Serena, and you need as much rest as possible. Come, sleep in my arms. I’ll watch over you and make sure your dreams are sweet.”

  He opened his arms and his wings fluttered in invitation. She did not resist. She couldn’t, for need compelled her to rest against his body. He enfolded her in his winged cocoon, and for the first time since her mother had passed away so very long ago, Serena felt truly cherished and safe. As she drifted back to sleep, she had a thought.

  “What about you? Aren’t you going to sleep, too? Every time I wake you’re beside me, watching me. You’ve got to be exhausted, too.”

  “Angels don’t sleep. Now hush and close your eyes, sweetheart.”

  He kissed her eyelids closed and breathed deeply. He tried to be good here, but resolve stood on shaky ground. Having Serena in his arms was like having his sweet Sirona back in his arms, a long awaited dream come true. Making love would be sheer perfection, but would also jeopardize Serena’s health right now. It would also be the biggest mind-fuck in history. He would have to wait until they sorted things out. It’d be hell, but he could wait. Couldn’t he?

  Chapter Twelve

  Not until midmorning did Raphael and Serena finally make their way back to the safe house.

  “Emma will be coming by later,” he told her while he prepared for the return trip. He set her carefully in the car and closed the door. “She’s our Great Savior Mother. She can heal you, and you’ll be right as rain again.” He jumped in his side and they were off.

  “Okay. But you’ve told me you’re a Savior, and you said that Saviors heal people. Why don’t you heal me?”

  She had been trying to absorb everything he’d been telling her all morning, but it was a daunting task, to let go of all she thought she knew to be true of this world and simply accept another truth in its place.

  There were angels on earth! They were here to fight against evil and protect and heal the human race. Raphael was one of ten immortals, called the Brethren. For the purposes of blending in with society, most had regular jobs that suited their talents. Their cover was Brethren Security, as he’d told her. He worked full time for the company, along with Kemuel, a Warrior and Gabriel, a Protector.

  “I can’t,” he grumbled and continued in a more civil tone. “I’m sorry. I’m having issues. Sort of what writers get when they can’t write, you know, like writer’s block. I’m blocked, Serena. I can’t heal worth a damn. I kept you alive long enough to get you to a hospital, but that’s about the extent of my powers right now. I’m basically useless. I’ve been trying to get it back, you know, going on meditative hikes through the different vortexes, but nothing. Nothing is helping. So I called Emma to heal you. I can’t bear to see you in pain when you don’t have to be.”

  “Can she heal you, too, and make your powers return?”

  “Unfortunately no, we tried. It’s hopeless. They’ll return when they return, is all.”

  “I’m sorry. I had no idea what you’ve been burdened with. And now I’ve added more on top of it.”

  “You’re not a burden, Serena.” He reached for her hand that rested on her lap. “You’re the light in an otherwise dark world for me right now.”

  “You’re too kind, and a big fat liar!” she scoffed. “How can I, a woman being chased by thugs and marked for death, be your light? You’re making no sense.”

  “I don’t lie.” He spoke with such seriousness, it gave her pause.

  “You know, I saw you outside my window yesterday beating the crap out of a dead cactus and heard you say my name while doing so. I thought you’d had second thoughts about bringing me to the house. That’s why I thought it best I leave. Now I know your frustration probably had nothing to do with me at all.”

  “Not one of my better moments, I admit. By now I think you know how I feel about having you near. If not, let me make myself perfectly clear.” He turned to her with a heart-stopping stare that left no question in her mind what his intentions were. “The nearer you are, the better.”

  Before she could respond, he brought his attention back to the road. Staggered by the intensity in his cerulean eyes, she was thankful he’d focused on driving them safely back to the house. She didn’t think she could last another moment without jumping his bones, and admittedly, her body really couldn’t handle anything close to what she wanted to do with him. Emma coming to heal her would save her in more ways than one.

  The rest of the ride, he seemed engrossed in his thoughts, and Serena chose to let them engulf him. She immersed herself in the incredible vistas of mountains and rock formations that never failed to enthrall her. She was a native to Sedona. Unusual to be so, and unlike those who had grown up around these parts, she never took for granted the beauty and wonders nature provided. She longed to be out there, walking amongst nature, at one and at peace with it all.

  “We’re here.”

  “Hm?” She tore herself away from the window. “Oh, already?”<
br />
  “I’ll take you in first and come back out for your things.”

  “Oh really, Raphael, I can walk. Not fast enough to win a race, but I can walk. I want to. It’s not in my nature to be fussed over, despite my behavior over the last couple of days.”

  “All right. Take it slow and careful,” he conceded, and delicately brushed a stray hair from her cheek. She nearly melted right there in her seat. Thinking every step through, she made her way slowly to the front door. He retrieved her bags from the trunk.

  A van came pulling up the long driveway as well and parked next to his two-seater convertible. Serena turned around in time to see the van door slide open and a mass of humanity spill out—two huge, gorgeous men, a stunningly graceful woman, a bouncing girl with pigtails to match, and two baby carriers.

  Raphael clasped hands with the men, hugged and kissed the woman, then hoisted the little girl in the air. She produced the sweetest squeal of joy. Serena stood frozen by the front door, taking in the scene. The closeness and familial nature of the exchanges were incredibly ordinary and touching, and tugged at her heart. Her own family had been virtually torn apart over the years by death, illness and bad choices. She held out little hope of ever finding her brother alive at this point, and her soul grieved for what she knew she would never have. These people may not all be related, but they certainly were close. They were family…with children. She took a deep breath, shaking off the melancholy, and waited for him to come and command the door to open.

  “You must be Serena. I’m Emma,” the intriguingly beautiful woman called out as she approached her with an outstretched a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Yes, I’m Serena, and I want to thank you. I know why you’re here, and I’m grateful.” She clammed up, feeling a bit uneasy and unworthy. Raphael had told her all about Emma, her husband Michael and their children while coming back to the house. They were a powerhouse of a family with an incredible story of their own. And they were all immortal, too.