Heaven and Hell (Beautiful Beings, #2) (13 page)

Where was everyone?  Mom and Dad?  Braxton?  Damn it, I couldn’t even get a nurse to respond.

Chapter 13

I
forced through the dizzy spell and sat up, determined to find out what was going on.  I could hear voices in the corridor, some frantic, some solemn.

The door opened.

“Mom, finally.  I’ve been buzzing for a nurse…”

“Are you alright?” In a second, Mom had her hand to my brow, gently but insistently pushing me back to the bed.  “We came back as soon as we could.”

“There’s a bit of a commotion out there,” Dad said.

“Yeah, I could hear dozens of voices.  What’s going on?”

“Honey,” Mom said in that tone that always preceded bad news.  “They found a drained body.”

Despite her soothing hand to my brow, I bolted to a seated position.  “What?  Are you serious?  Where?  When?”

“Here in the hospital, up in the psych ward, twenty minutes ago.” Dad came to stand at the foot of the bed.

My heart raced as I tried to find some time reference. Twenty minutes. How long had Brax been gone?  He’d left to find a doctor… Had I fallen asleep?  Possibly… I hadn’t even heard Moore’s arrival.

“Damn it,” I muttered.

Moore mentioned being held up before coming to see me.  What could have kept him from being at my side?  I threw the sheets off me and twisted to get off the bed.

“Honey, this is no time to play warrior princess.”  Dad came to my side and put a definitive hand to my shoulder.

“Dad, Brax and Moore… they were both here, they were both…” I choked, pained by the possibility.

“There’s nothing you can do now, Lux.  You have to regain your strength before you can go out and save the world.”

Obedient, but still fired up, I lay back.  “Have you seen Brax?”

“I’m right here,” he said as he came into the room, his face pale.  “Sorry for the delay.  I got held up.”

“Yeah, that seems to be going around,” I muttered to myself.

“What’s that,” he asked.

Shaking my comment off, I looked pointedly at his soiled hands.  Blackened as though he’d handled charcoal, his hands left little doubt as to what had held him up.  Stepping closer, his eyes darkened, the iris of his eyes dilated to the point of leaving only a thin rim of hazel.

“Mom, Dad, I’d really like to have a minute with Brax, if you don’t mind.”

“Sure, honey,” Mom said with a gentle pat to my head.”

The silence was heavy and uncomfortable as I watched them leave.

“You seem upset,” Brax said as he came to my side.”

“You left to get the doctor.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t able to find him.”

“Brax, you left me over an hour ago.”  Though I had no idea how long he’d been gone, I bluffed.

“Sorry, Lux.”  Taking my hand, he sighed, suddenly weary.  “Everyone is running around.  The trauma unit is all over the place and there’s no way to talk to any of them.  The nurses, doctors, even orderlies, they’re all…”

“All what, Brax?”

“Lux, I saw a demon lurking in the hall.  It came out of a room and headed for the elevators.  I followed it but stopped when I reached the door of the room it’d just exited.  The stench, Lux, it was incredible.  I saw the body, drained, shriveled, ugly… like the things you see in your worst nightmare.”

He fell silent, his jaw working with the remains of what he had to say.  “It was weird, but it felt like I’d been there before… in that room.  I don’t even remember ever coming to this hospital before, so it just didn’t make sense.”

“Brax,” I said solemnly, almost fearfully.  “Just before you saw the demon, what happened?”

He shrugged and frowned.  “I was looking for a nurse or doctor.  Why?”

“How did you feel?  Were you angry?  Did you want to lash out at anyone? Strike anyone?”

His knowing smile told me he knew what I was fishing for.  “Like that demon?”

“You can’t blame me for verifying.” I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

The knowing smile turned to tenderness as he brushed his hand across my brow.  “How does your head feel?  Asher said you had a concussion.”

“It hurts, but apparently I have a surprisingly hard head, so I’ll be just fine.  Listen Braxton.”  I gripped his hand.  “I’m worried about what’s happening.  Moore was here not long ago and…”

“Moore? How’d he even know you were here?”  His initial annoyance with his rival’s visit quickly turned to suspicion.  “You know, that could very well explain the body I saw.”

“I don’t know,” I said shaking my head of the notion.  “Somehow I don’t think so.” 

There was no way of knowing for sure, but my heart desperately needed to believe he had nothing to do with the recently found drained corpse. 

“He was incredibly upset,” I went on.  “He wanted to kill Shayne for hurting me.”

“That’s no surprise.  I want to kill her myself.”

“The way he left me… so abruptly.  He just gave me a quick kiss and was gone.  It felt like a goodbye kiss; so final.”

Braxton’s tight grimace showed his disdain for Moore’s kiss.  “Well, then good riddance,” he muttered.

Glaring at him I freed my hand from his. “Brax, I don’t want him to do something foolish.  We have to find him.  We have to stop him before he does something he’ll regret.”  Sitting up, I quickly grimaced, grabbed my side and lay back.  The sharp and clear reminder of my injuries stabbed through me.

“I need to get to the Hatchett’s,” I groaned as I tried again.  Biting through the pain, I reached a straight and solid sitting position.

“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no way you can move.”

Ignoring him, I turned away and threw my legs over the side of the bed.

“Lux, get back to bed.”  He came around to my side.

“Brax, my pain is nothing compared to what Moore may do. I have to do something.” My feet touched the floor and I knew I wouldn’t make it far. My head felt like it was swirling in the core of a cyclone and the pain of every bruise was amplified ten times.

With stern force, Brax grabbed my arm, stopping me from going further and keeping me from falling to the floor. “Look, you're obviously in no condition to do anything about this, but if you really care that much, if it will ensure you lay here, get some rest and take care of yourself, I’ll go check on Moore myself. I’ll even find Asher and get him to help me out.”

My heart swelled with pride and affection as I turned to him. “Really? You’ll do that? For me?” I sat back and allowed him to raise my legs to the bed.

“And only for you.”  He kissed me tenderly then swallowed, no doubt his pride.

I knew the great effort required of him and was more grateful than words could say. His actions also helped eliminate any and all suspicion; no demon infected man would do such a thing.  “Come here.”  I held my arms out to him and pulled him into a warm embrace.

His hug was strong and reassuring. “I’ll do anything for you,” he said as he butted his brow to mine.  “Anything.”

Chapter 14

“
E
verything seems good and I must say you look rather radiant this morning,” Dr. Sorensen said, his blue eyes twinkling “Eager to leave us?”

Finishing the last bite of my soft cold toast, I nodded.

“As good as everything appears now, I’d still like to see you again in a week or so.  Stop by the nurse’s desk for an appointment.”

I continued to nod though I hardly doubted I’d be back.  My head ached only when I moved too suddenly and my ribs felt only slightly tender.  I knew I’d be just fine and even in top form in only a day or two.  Taking great pains not to wince, I shoved my tray aside and edged my way out of bed.

“Do you have someone who can get you home?”

“I’ll call my parents.” Despite those words, I immediately thought of Brax. I’d not heard a word from him since he’d left me two nights earlier. Had he found Moore? Or had he perhaps fallen prey to Shayne? After two sleepless nights, I felt numb with worry and fatigue. Between the busy nurse’s station nearby that had offered a surprising array of chatter, and the questions surrounding Moore and Brax that’d played over and over again in my head, sleep had been a rather hit and miss proposition every night. The few moments I managed to nod off I was awakened again by a nurse’s gentle prodding for my temperature or blood pressure, or a sudden and vivid image of Moore.

“Hey, I hear they’re letting you out.” Brax bounded in with a wide grin.

I turned to Dr. Sorensen, standing next to Brax. “Guess I have a ride after all.”

He patted Brax on the shoulder. “Just make sure she gets straight home and takes it easy. She may look strong, but her wounds aren’t completely healed. If she pushed too hard, she could make matters much worse.” With those final words of wisdom, he left.

“Brax.” I opened the small closet that housed my street clothes. “Where’ve you been? I’ve been going nuts here. I thought you were going to come right back.”

“Sorry. Figuring out where Moore went then heading out to find him took a little longer than I expected.” He put his hand to my shoulder.  “You’re not going to like what I have to say.”

Staring blindly at the jeans and shirt my mother had so lovingly set on a hanger, I held my breath. Had something happened to Moore? The deep sense of dread surprised me and reminded me once again how much he truly meant to me.

With a sharp sigh I grabbed the jeans and shirt then shut the closet with more thrust than intended.  I turned to Brax wearing my bravest face.  “What is it?”

“Let’s get you out of here and I’ll fill you in on the way home.”

My frantic desire to find out about Moore overrode any scruples I may have usually had. Just barely turning my back to Brax, I slipped out of the flimsy hospital gown and hopped into my jeans. Twisting around to face Brax as I tugged down my shirt, I found him with his back to me, his head tilted up as he stared at a crack on the far wall.

Charmed, I smiled. “You can turn around now.”

Red-faced, he twisted tentatively and dared only a guarded peak. “Damn it, Lux,” he said as he turned fully around. “You can’t just go around throwing your clothes off like that. I mean… damn, I’m no angel and…”

“I turned my back to you, Brax,” I said through a teasing snort.  “It’s not like I just flashed you.”

“Makes no difference to me.  Seeing you nude, back or front, and… damn, you just look too enticing. You make it downright impossible to think of anything else.”

“Like Moore?”

“Huh?”

“Moore… you were telling me about Moore.” I opened the drawer of the night table and grabbed my purse.

“Ah, yeah, right. Sure.” He seemed painfully uncomfortable in his jeans.

“Come on, lover boy,” I said, grabbing his arm and leading him out.

Still hot and obviously bothered, he followed me into the elevator. His eyes spoke loud and clear of the notions going through his head as the doors slid shut, but the two other occupants forced him to remain in control.

However, the moment we arrived at the next floor and the occupants stepped out, his resistance crumbled.  The doors weren’t even completely closed when he pinned me to the elevator wall. His lips crashed over mine while his tongue plunged in deep and long. It was an exciting and intoxicating kiss, made all the more thrilling by the chance of getting caught.

The light chime of a bell announced our arrival at the next floor and Brax pulled away just as suddenly as he’d charged me when the doors opened once again.  A nurse got on, and a knowing grin quickly spread across her face.

In squirming silence we rode the remaining floors.

The doors finally opened to the main floor and I sighed, inhaled and laughed all at the same time.

“Sorry ‘bout that,” Brax said.  Now in full control of his senses, he led me out. “There’s only so much I can take before the animal in me succumbs.” He grinned and hiked his brow. “Being in an elevator alone with you and having those delicious visions of you still in my head…” Pushing through the doors that led out to the parking lot, he shook his head in mock defeat.

“Well,” I said, slipping my hand into the crook in his arm.  “Who knew such a wild beast lived and breathed within the tight wall of control you so masterfully keep up?”

We’d reached his SUV and my thoughts returned to more serious matters.  “So, where did you find Moore?”

“Yosemite.”

“The park?” I got in and closed the door.

“That’s the one.” He made his way around the car as I tried to figure out how long a drive it would be.

“But that’s, like…”

“Three to four hours away.”

“And Moore is out there?”  I didn’t want to let on just how worried I truly was.  Brax was already so generous of his time, finding Moore when I knew full well he’d like nothing more than to lose sight of him forever.  I didn’t want to rub in how I felt.