Demon's Doorway (21 page)

"I'm hanging up now," Alex said.

"Wait, no. Alex, hold on. I actually called for a reason."

"And what would that be?"

"I didn't get the chance to bug Victoria tonight. What's the deal with that guy Kevin? I saw you two talking. Tell me everything about him."

Alex's mouth opened, but nothing came out right away.

"Well…I barely know him really. But he seems like a cool guy."

Cindy was in bed, the sheet pulled up to her chin. She saw the panic on his face, and shot him a questioning look. He shrugged.

"Come on," Alicia pleaded. "Help me out here. I think I might have messed up with him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Victoria stole him away from me. I didn't get to say goodnight, get a number, or anything. It just kind of…ended. And I think there was something there. God, he's so hot, and sweet, and that smile. And he treated me with so much respect. He actually
didn't
flirt with me, not really. But I caught him looking. Alex, I want to see him again."

He squinted his eyes shut, wishing he was listening to a squeaky chalkboard instead. "Okay, okay, Alicia. I get it. The guy's hot stuff."

"He is, isn't he? So, what do you know about him?"

He stared at Cindy, who continued to stare back. He hoped looking at his wife would give him inspiration, let words come to his mind besides
he's a witch
.

"I'm serious, I only met him one other time before today. Victoria knows all about him. I know he's staying with her. You'll have to ask her."

"He's different, isn't he?"

"Uh, what do you mean?"

"Is he a vampire? One that can walk in the sun, like Victoria? He can sink his fangs into my neck anytime."

"I…really don't know." He felt terrible lying to her. "Alicia, I have to go. We'll talk about this later, okay?"

He hung up and leaned against the wall, replaying the conversation in his head. Cindy shifted under the sheet and rolled her eyes.

"Let me guess. The guy she was walking outside with."

"Yeah. She's got an eye for him."

Cindy waited for something further, but Alex was quiet. "And? So?"

"This…probably isn't good."

"You don't like the guy?"

"No, that's not it. Kevin's okay. I just don't know if he's right for Alicia."

"Baby, the time for you to be the protective big brother is long gone. Leese is twenty years old. She's old enough to make her own decisions, and her own mistakes."

"I'm not being protective. There's more to it than that. Kevin is the guy I told you about. He's the witch."

Her brown eyes lit up. "The guy she was spending all night with? That's him? He's the one that can make fire jump out of his hands, and make people forget? He's the one that cured Victoria of the sunlight?"

"Yeah." He put his hands on his hips. "So, what do we do?"

Cindy shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"They're both adults. They can handle it."

Alex looked down at the carpet. He wasn't so sure.

"Let's change the subject here," Cindy said. "I'm wearing one article of clothing under this sheet. Guess what it is, and I'll let you join me."

"Hmm. Thong underwear, I hope? No, high heels?"

"You can only guess one."

"Thong underwear. For the love of God, please let it be thong underwear."

She threw the sheet off. Cindy lay on her side, and seductively ran a hand along her thigh. She wore only her wedding ring.

"That's not fair," he said. "A ring isn't really clothing."

She feigned thinking it over. "I guess you're right. You can join me."

Alex had never stripped so fast before in his life.

Cindy let out a breath as they embraced. She hooked a leg behind his knee, and reached over to lower the light, for a romantic mood. Just hearing the noises she made quickened his pulse. She was his wife now.

They fiddled with the sheet for a moment, but Cindy simply pushed it off the bed. She wanted nothing in the way from feeling her husband.

"No wings," she said breathlessly.

Alex was surprised those words hurt him. He thought she enjoyed them.

"Okay."

She read his emotions easily. "No, I mean just not yet. They're for round two, or round three. They're dessert."

Alex froze, just for a moment, to caress her face. No one could make him feel like she did. She smiled at him and ran a hand down his chest.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you too, Alex."

She pulled him to her, and they began what she would have called round one.

*****

Alex didn't know what time it was, and he didn't care. He'd spent much time in the company of demons, but was quite sure he was in Heaven.

He was in that wonderful state between awake and sleep. The room was bathed in darkness, a demon's favorite environment. His body was exhausted. A wonderful ache spread throughout every muscle. Cindy and he were both naked, lying in bed. He was on his back. Cindy lay as close as she possibly could. Her head was nestled on his shoulder, an arm over his chest and a leg over his waist.

His wings were out, one of which was wrapped protectively around her. She stirred slightly, trying to pull on the wing like a blanket. He smiled to himself and moved his wing to cover her more. Her bare leg peeked out, with a sheen from the lights of Baltimore outside. He reached down to gently hold her knee. He didn't want to start another round, merely wanted to touch her with every part of him.

Cindy stirred regardless. She shifted and squeezed him tight.

"Sorry," he whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you."

"It's okay."

She reached down below his waist. He had to let out a quiet laugh.

"I don't think you've got it in you," he said.

"Not yet," she said, with a wicked smile. "That's what I'm working on."

Alex felt his arousal stirring once again. Cindy gently pushed his wing aside and straddled him. They said nothing else. She merely put her hands on his chest and shifted her hips. He reached up to feel her.

Cindy was in danger.

The thought came quickly and quietly, but it could not be ignored. He never knew where the warning came from. The spirit realm? The demon realm? From somewhere deep inside him? He wasn't sure. The only thing he knew for certain was he had to act.

Cindy sensed the shift in his mood, and leaned down to touch his face.

"Baby? Are you okay—?"

Alex pulled her flat against him, and she let out a startled cry. He wrapped his arms and wings around her. The door to the hotel room burst open as he started rolling off the bed, taking Cindy with him.

"There!" someone shouted.

Alex landed on his back next to the bed, near the discarded sheet. Cindy was on top of him. The two men opened fire, putting holes in the mattress and sending pillow-feathers in the air.

Cindy shouted and tried to cover her head. Alex nimbly twisted, sending her to the bottom, and pulled his wings out from under her.

"Slide under the bed," he said calmly.

She did so, and pulled the sheet with her. The men continued to fire, directing their spray to the wall next to him. Alex reduced his profile and waited patiently. He noticed they weren't shooting bullets, but syringes of some kind. One fell from the wall and landed next to him.

The firing stopped, as they needed to reload.

Alex blinked, and his night-vision pushed away the darkness. Black was replaced with a soft gray.

He stood up and faced the two men, who were dressed in police uniforms. Stretching his wings, his face twisted in rage, assuming the shape of a demon, and his eyes turned red. He roared. A powerful, demonic roar, that nearly shook the walls.

Leaping across the bed, he struck the first man he came to with his wing. The man collapsed against the wall, his gun flying. The second cop, not having a chance to completely reload his strange weapon, stepped forward and swung the rifle at Alex. He connected, and Alex stumbled back a few feet, holding his jaw. The cop reared back to swing a second time, but Alex had vanished. His wings shrank into his back, and the rifle passed harmlessly through him, smacking the wall.

He reappeared right before his elbow struck the cop's nose. The blow only stunned the cop, and he threw a left hook. Alex vanished once again. The cop had no chance as Alex struck him repeatedly, and vanished through every counter he had. A kick to the stomach and groin finally sent him to the floor.

Alex heard a cocking sound from the floor, and looked down to see the first cop had finally found and reloaded his weapon. Alex vanished just before the syringe would have struck him. It smacked the window behind him, shattering it. The sounds of outside Baltimore joined them in the hotel room.

Even in the dark the cop could see Cindy, who was now huddled next to the bed, wrapped in the sheet. He trained his weapon on her.

Alex roared again as he reemerged from the spirit realm.

He grabbed the cop with his wings, forcing him away from Cindy. The gun fell to the floor. He punched him once in the jaw, and shoved him against the wall. Covering the cop's mouth and nose with his wing, he kneed him in the stomach. The cop tried to bend over in pain, but Alex wouldn't let him. The fight slowly left his body as he struggled to breathe. His wings were stronger than any one man.

"Alex."

He turned his head to see Cindy. She wanted to calm him down, but seeing her in the state she was in didn't help. Tears ran down her cheeks. She was naked, vulnerable, with only a sheet barely around her. She gently grabbed his wing and pulled. Slowly, his face changed back to human.

The first cop fell to the floor next to his partner. One moaned in pain, while the other was out completely, but they were alive.

Alex heard voices in the hall. He motioned for Cindy to stay back, and carefully leaned his head out.

A cop was escorting a couple out of their room and around the corner. Near the other end of the hallway another cop was ducking inside an open room, a gun at his side.

He turned to face his wife. She was the most important thing, the top priority. Cindy needed to be safe.

Grabbing her hand, he led her across the hotel room, toward the broken window. It was nearly large enough to step through.

"Let's go," he said.

She held the sheet to her chest with one hand, while letting him lead her with the other. Before getting to the shards of broken glass on the carpet, Alex scooped her in his arms. It was the same position when they first entered the hotel room, but the situation was far different.

"Hold on tight."

She sighed, and laced her arms around his neck. The wind outside brought goosebumps across her entire body.

Alex walked across the glass and stepped through the window. Cindy closed her eyes and clutched him tighter. They sank for only a second, until Alex's wings adjusted to the new weight. He aimed straight for the closest building, which was the neighboring Bank of America building. The wind tried to push them around slightly, but his wings were more than strong enough to handle it.

He landed on the roof, and Cindy relaxed slightly at feeling something hard under them. He set her down and held her close. She shivered, from both the cold mixed with fear. He pulled back to look into her eyes, holding her face.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded slowly, and Alex checked her for injuries. Besides only wearing a sheet and standing on top of a sixteen story building, she was fine.

Cindy looked over his shoulder at their hotel room. Through the broken window they could see three men searching their room, the lights finally on. They looked under the bed, and in the bathroom.

"Who are they?" Cindy asked. "What do they want?"

Alex barely hid his anger. "I don't know. You stay here, okay? I won't be long. I'll go find out."

She grabbed his shoulder, looking at his naked body. "Wait."

She adjusted her sheet and tore off a section on the end. He accepted it from her with a half smile, and wrapped it around his waist. He felt like Tarzan.

"I'll be right back."

"Alex, be careful."

He held her by the shoulders. "Baby, you know they can't hurt me. Don't worry."

She kissed him. "I know. That's what I mean. Go easy on them."

He nodded before running to the edge of the roof and jumping off.

*****

Two men searched the hotel room while a third stood at the door. The man guarding the door was the one Alex nearly suffocated with his wing. He half stood, half leaned in the doorway.

"He's not here, I'm telling you."

"Well, he didn't get past us in the hall. We've got the elevators and stairs covered. Everyone on this level's been taken downstairs. He's on this floor."