Authors: Laura Hawks
Mani stepped in, giving a quick glance to Shara before approaching Mel. He didn’t say a word.
Mel gave Mani an appraisal before he spoke. “Where are you going to live?”
“Not sure. I was thinking we would look for a place in one of the other realms. Maybe the human one.”
“How will you support her?”
Mani frowned. “I’ll manage. I’ll do what needs to be done to make sure she is taken care of. We just want to be together.”
“Would you do anything?”
“If that is what it took. Yeah.” Mani started to get suspicious.
“So, in reality, you two are just going to go bumbling about trying to make a living, fuck only knows where, or how, just so you two can be together?”
Shara noticed Mani looking over his shoulder at her. She looked nervous and fearful. If Mel said no, Shara wasn’t sure she would be able to leave. Shara was aware Mani knew she had been with Mel for an extremely long time and Mel was making some good points. However, a life without Mani seemed worse. She began to wring her hands, something neither man had ever seen her do before.
“Request denied.”
Mani’s blood boiled and he slammed his hands down on the desk. “How dare you? How fucking dare you? Who the fuck are you to determine where and how she spends her life? She wants to be with me and I with her and that is the fucking end of that story.”
Mani spun and grabbed Shara’s hand to drag her away, but he couldn’t get the door open and, when he tried to flash, he kept bouncing back. He spun on Mel. “What the fuck? Let us go.”
“No. I was not finished.”
Mani turned and crossed his arms, glaring at the demon judge.
“Shara has been with me a long time. I saved her and brought her here when her family was destroyed. I believe she feels safest here, and considering her reluctance to leave overall, I believe she is only going to remain with you. Therefore, I am offering an alternative. You can work for me as a guard and hunter. I have seen your work. You are persistent and over all good at what you do. In return, you and Shara may remain here under my roof. She will continue to be my assistant, you will be in my employ, you will both be safe with a roof over your head and the protection I can afford.”
Mani’s eyes narrowed. “Are you fucking with me?”
Mel chuckled. “Dude, you are not my type.”
That statement caught them off guard and even Mani had to roll his eyes. “Thank the gods for small favors.” Becoming serious again, he looked at Shara who gave one simple nod.
“We would be here together. Meals, necessities, whatever, we would work for?”
“You would have everything Shara enjoys now and more. I’ll have a suite designed for the two of you and any additions you might have in the future. You will be in the realm where demons are welcome and you can be yourselves without harassment and, as stated already, you both would be protected.”
“And if we say no? Then what? Or if we change our minds in the future?”
“Shara knows where the doors are. However, I felt it appropriate you at least hear the full offer before you stormed out. The choice is yours.”
Shara didn’t even give Mani a chance. “We’ll take it. Thank you.”
She then pulled Mani out of the office before either of the men changed their minds.
Mel smirked. If only all his decisions were as easy and had a happy ending.
Chapter 22
When Clarissa arrived, Mel and Trinity accompanied her. They weren’t necessarily needed, but the two insisted on coming for support, if nothing else. Clarissa admitted she was a bit nervous doing the absorption, yet she knew this was the right thing to do. Archanidou admitted to her during her training that the shard could contain more power than they were aware of, or her body might not be able to handle it all before she could quell it. There were a myriad of possibilities for something to go seriously wrong and Archanidou wanted to make sure Clarissa was aware of all the potential complications which could arise. At least, the ones they could contemplate. There were always unexpected dangers with something like this.
Clarissa was grateful Archanidou had not shared these hypotheses with Mel, for she knew him well enough to know he would have tried to forbid her to go through with it. Tried being the operative word. Succeed? Not so much. However, she didn’t want Trinity to suffer any more than she had already and she could feel for Jasmine who carried this within her by a fluke, not by choice. She also was aware of how much Logan cared for this female and she would not have her son’s heart broken if she could help it. She knew Jasmine would be hunted for the little sliver she carried by any who came near and could sense the bit of the stone. Like Clarissa, Logan had already suffered with the loss of his sister; she wouldn’t risk doing that again to him with the woman he loved.
Arriving at the location on Maurepas, they saw Archanidou, Jasmine, Logan and Tyler awaiting them. Heading over to the three of them, they all exchanged greetings. Jaz, Logan and Trinity had spent a wonderful day touring the home of Tyler as he showed them many wonders. Trinity hated the idea of going, but found herself having a really wonderful time, mainly in part because of Tyler, who was overtly charming and attentive. Logan worried he was playing her, as he had so many other women, but gave him the benefit of a doubt and assumed he was just being helpful in order to get Trinity to enjoy herself and forget her captivity for even a few moments.
Trinity and Mel stayed out of the sacred circle, which had been drawn on the solid ground around a table. Logan was beside Jaz, keeping an arm securely around her. Tyler seemed to light up when he saw Trinity, but remained beside Archanidou in case he was needed. Clarissa turned to Mel and gave him a kiss before she moved inside the circle to stand by the table. Jasmine had some colored symbols drawn on her face, chest and arms. She knew they not only covered her torso fully, but the tendrils of lines also went down her legs. The lines represented the blood flow through her body, where the stone had influence.
“Let’s get this over with,” Jasmine said when all the pleasantries were exchanged. Looking back at her grandmother, she carefully entered the circle and got on the table, lying in a prone position. It made Logan nervous for she looked like she was about to be sacrificed to some Incan or Mayan god.
Trinity spoke up, watching as well. “Why is Jaz going through with this? I tried to do the same thing and almost killed her. How can you allow this to happen?”
Clarissa went over to her daughter and took her hands, her thumbs rubbing over the backs of them. “There is a difference, honey. Where you tried to extract the bit of stone so it would still be tangible and retain its power, I will be absorbing and nullifying it. Where you were trying to take it from her body, I am leaving it in, just taking its power. Does that make sense?”
“I think so.” Trinity turned to Jaz. “I really am sorry I hurt you.”
Jasmine shook her head. “You have nothing to be sorry about, for the hundredth time. I told you before, I don’t blame you one bit. You didn’t know what you were doing and you really didn’t have a choice. However, I have a choice now and I would really like to get this over with. Please.”
Clarissa nodded, letting Trinity’s hands go. Moving within the circle, she stood over Jasmine’s prone body. As she learned from Archanidou, Clarissa recited the words, closing her eyes, listening for the call of the stone and finding its center.
At first, no one was sure anything was going to happen. Then a soft orange haze began to arise from the lines and symbols drawn on Jasmine’s body, coalescing towards Clarissa’s mouth, being drawn in like a moth to a flame. Jasmine started to twitch and cry out so Logan began to rush into the circle but was held back by Archanidou.
“No. If you go in and try anything while it’s only midway accomplished, you could irreparably damage them both. Let it play out. It will be okay.”
Her words stopped Mel from crossing into the circle as well. He wasn’t entirely sure this was the best thing for his wife to be doing, even though she told him it would be safe. He had to wonder what taking even a little bit of power into her body would do to her. How would it affect her? Would she change as a result? He began to pace, as if a caged animal, on the outside of the circle, waiting for the completion of the ceremony.
Although it seemed like hours, it was only minutes later when Clarissa collapsed and Jasmine remained still. Were either of them breathing? Archanidou pulled back her hand. “Go to her, child,” she said. It was all the encouragement Logan needed as he dashed to the table and checked on Jasmine’s vitals. Her pulse was weak, her breathing halted, but it was there. She was alive and he scooped her up into his arms, holding her close as his eyes followed his father and the identical actions for his mother.
Mel scooped Clarissa up from the ground, holding her still form against him. Images of the last time she was this still flashed through his mind. She had died in his arms and he would never in all his life forget that moment when he thought he had lost her for all eternity.
Even though there was a pulse, she was not responding to him. He became gut-wrenchingly fearful he was going to lose her again. He whispered soft words for her ear only, begging her to come back to him, not to leave him alone and how much he needed her, loved her. She was why he wanted to get up in the morning. She was the reason he found excitement in each day. She was the vindication he lived and didn’t just exist. She was his everything.
Simultaneously, Jasmine and Clarissa gasped for air and awoke. Clarissa realized she was in Mel’s arms and threw hers around his neck, clinging tightly to him. “Can we go home?”
Mel nodded to Trinity and said a thank you to Archanidou before transporting Trinity, Clarissa and himself back to his manor in the Nether Realm. He would talk to Logan later. Right now, his main concern was the woman he adored.
Logan continued to hold Jasmine until she pushed him away slightly. “Did it work?” she asked.
Logan was about to answer that he was sure it had from the light show which arose from her body, but then he realized her eyes were different. They were no longer filled with specks of a fiery orange and yellow. They remained a solid amber and he knew then, the stone’s power was no longer an integral part of her.
“Yes, my child. It is gone. Clarissa succeeded in bringing it into herself and nullifying it. You are safe to go where you please and never have to worry about being hunted for your life’s blood ever again.”
“Thank you, Nunohum.”
“How do you feel, Jazzy?” Tyler asked and they almost forgot he was there, standing as a silent vigil to all that occurred.
“I feel lighter, somehow. Freer. Like this heavy weight has been lifted from my body.”
“In a way it has, Jasmine. You no longer carry within the power the gem contained. Even that minute amount must have been leaden inside of you. Head home. I will check on you in a while.” Archanidou dematerialized, leaving the two men and Jasmine alone.
“Can we leave now? This place gives me the willies,” Tyler grumbled. “And don’t start that kissy lovey shit in front of me. I don’t want to see that right now.”
Logan cast him a
‘shut it’
glance as he scooped Jasmine in his arms. She was about to complain, then realized it was nice to be carried, so she let him. Tyler didn’t know he and Jasmine still hadn’t gotten back to their former place in their relationship, so Ty didn’t need to worry about being exposed to any lovey dovey stuff.
“Let’s just go home,” Logan said quietly. “Let’s go home.”
Chapter 23
A week had passed since the ritual was performed and Jasmine was still getting used to her newfound freedom. No longer was she limited in the amount of time she could roam around the streets of New Orleans, or anywhere else she wanted to go. It was certainly liberating.
Tyler had taken Trinity out on Bourbon Street to see the sights. Although Trinity was concerned with the amount of people, she felt more secure with Tyler at her side. Before they left, Logan had pulled Ty away to speak to him privately.
“She’s still so vulnerable right now, Ty. I don’t want you messing around with her and dropping her like a used beer can when you are done, like you have with others. She couldn’t handle it. She has been through too much as it is. Besides, she is my sister and I would take offense if you treated her with anything less than respect.”
“I’m aware of that. I get where you’re coming from, man, but I actually like her. She has been through a lot, but she has a strength of spirit that bastard never broke. I find such a quality admirable. I promise I am not going to use her in such a way. Ever.” Tyler shifted uncomfortably, something Logan had never seen the cocky, self-assured male do before. “I really like her Logan. The only bad thing about her is she is related to you, but I can overlook that one flaw, if need be.”