CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
We parked in the alley and Jace scouted the street first and then moved
around the corner to make sure. He didn't see anyone, so he gave the go-ahead to
move in.
Jace followed as I moved to Munsinger's antique Chevrolet. I popped the hood
and there was his key, complete with a code for the door's keypad. I memorized
the code and we got through the first set of doors and moved into a spacious
luxurious hallway that looked like a typical frontdoor for any self-respecting
hotel.
Munsinger hated hotels and he hated frontdesks, so I wasn't surprised to not
see any receptionist or any frontdoor bellhops or even a mere frontdesk.
Instead, the hallway opened into a garden, complete with a gazebo, and an
archway for the building tenants to walk beneath on their way to their
homes.
I chuckled as I pictured Munsinger's poetic eyes. He must've glazed over
everytime he pretended to frolick through the watering mists of lilies, daisies,
and every flower under the heavens.
"What?" Jace asked.
"Nothing." He wouldn't understand.
As we pushed through the door onto Munsinger's floor, I brought the key to
his door's lock and Jace swept the inside once more.
I waited outside until he appeared, gun in hand, and remarked, "It's empty. I
didn't see any surveillance taps."
The front entryway opened onto their kitchen, complete with blue marble
flooring and gray marble countertops. The extravagant apartment was sleek,
modern, and had Munsinger's flare for artistry and poetry. Poems and litanies
from were framed and hung throughout the apartment.
An entire wall in the dining room housed hundreds of wine bottles held in
place between bricks that jutted out from the wall. On the other side was a
fireplace and a leather couch that outlined the living room's wall and circled
around into the dining room.
Another room must've been Munsinger's dream room. Statues, portraits,
photographs, and poems was displayed in every corner and every tile on the wall.
It was a sunroom, but the glass was checkered off into blue, green, white, and
yellow. And instead of only have one wall or ceiling made of glass, the entire
room was glass.
I had wandered around as Jace must've done his own perusal.
Munsinger's voice rang loud and echoingly clear as I recognized an automated
voicemail.
A beep sounded and his voice jarred against the seemingly peaceful his voice
had just left to leave a message.
"Uh…Vii, you're going to be dreadfully angry with me. I am hoping against
hope that you decide to check our messages while you're visiting your mother in
Switzerland, but…things haven't ended how I had presumed them to be." He
hesitated and I stepped back into the kitchen area where the machine was
located.
Jace looked up and held my eyes.
"He's…" I whispered. "Something's wrong."
I heard the infliction in his voice. I knew what that meant and he had
recently been crying.
"I did what my Maya Angel wanted of me. I came out here and I spoke with my
haunted past, but…it didn't go how I, actually, it went exactly how I dreaded it
to be. Things are not clear for me anymore, my Viiwa Tribal Goddess.
Um…something is holding me here, still, and I very much hope that it has nothing
to do with pre-wedding jitters because things like this never happen to me. You
see, I loved a girl here, once, and I thought her child was my child. And…when I
learned his true paternal roots, I…I'm afraid that I cut myself off from this
child who I had promised and whispered my reverant earnest tones to him when he
was still a fetus. He wasn't mine and I couldn't…it hurt too much, my dear. It
hurt dreadfully and…I've come to see him again and…"
I heard a small sniffle in his voice and knew the tears were rolling once
more.
I held my breath.
Munsinger continued, a weak laugh in his voice, "I am confused and I am alone
and I am standing outside in the rain right now. I don't know what to do, Viiwa.
You are visiting your mother and are not expected to return until the fifth,
but…I lost the phone number for there and I'd very much like to get in touch
with you. I…" He cleared his throat and breathed out, "I love this child, Viiwa,
as if he's mine. And after observing how this other man in his life treats him,
I've come to realize that no one, but myself can truly be a father figure to
this precious child's life. As much as I hate to admit this, Stephen is very
nice and a well man for Cherry. He's not a father to Gray, not yet. And…I really
think this was a wake-up call, my dear. I am supposed to be in this child's
life. I am supposed to…I've decided to stay for a few more days and converse
with Cherry some more."
Munsinger cried now. His sobs spoke volumes as he choked out, "He knew my
voice. He stopped in the hallway and he looked at me when he heard my voice. He
knew me, Viiwa. That means something….that had to mean something!"
The phone clicked off and I stood motionless, staring at the machine,
picturing my emotional poet on the other end, soaked from the rain, and smiling
widely as invisible tears dripped down his cheeks.
I must've stood for awhile, rooted in place, when Jace left to change
clothes.
He looked freshly showered when he returned back the back rooms and remarked
dryly, "We've got the place to ourselves."
"Yes." I sighed.
Jace rubbed at his wet hair and commented, "You want to take a shower?"
"God yes." I breathed out.
This is where I'm supposed to say that I felt refreshed, purged, and ready to
face the world again.
It wasn't so.
The water hit my dull skin and dull hair. It washed my hair, it cleansed and
purified my skin cells, but it never registered to my heart.
I found some new clothes in my bag, remembered that Jace had said he got some
new items, and pulled on a pair of loose-fitting black gauchos that swirled
around my hips and gave the appeal of a skirt. I wore a grey lacy camisole and
tucked my hair into a frenchtwist.
The apartment was warm enough to attend in summer clothes, but that wasn't
the reason for my attire.
I needed something to wake me up. I can handle a lot. Not much will actually
get to me, but the exhausting rollercoaster from the last few days had taken
it's toll. Even with thoughts that my life would be with Marcus again hadn't
fully been realized and penetrated yet.
And Jace's revelation about the children took the cake, along with the
knowledge that Krein had now seen his son.
My brother was an imprisoned force. I had likened him to a caged tiger and I
had even baited him with his son as a carrot, but he hadn't seen his child. He
hadn't known of his child, but he knew for certainty now.
And now that he had, I was reluctant to acknowledge what he would do and what
destruction he would reign.
Jace had opened two bottles of wine with two glasses and he poured each of
them to the brinking top.
"What's this for?" I knew, but I asked anyway as I curled my feet underneath
me and took a sip.
"What do you think?" Jace cut out. "It's for our shit day and the shit day
before that and the shit week before that."
I saluted him, "I'll drink to that."
Jace threw back his first glass.
I threw mine also. And commented, "You saw Taryn today—"
"I don't want to talk about Taryn." Jace interrupted me and poured two more
glasses. "What about your friend?"
"I don't want to talk about Cora and not why you want to talk about Taryn.
Cora's just…not worth it."
Jace arched an eyebrow, leaned back, and asked with watchful eyes, "So what
do you want to talk about? Marcus?"
"Fine." I surprised him and leaned forward, a brimming glass of wine in my
hands. "What do you want to talk about?"
Something harsh slammed in his eyes and he said quietly, cruelly, "What was
it like? Feeling him inside you again?"
"Is that what you want to know?" I breathed out, feeling alarmingly excited
as I rode a very dangerous wave. "What it was like making love to him?"
"Is that what you did? I thought it was just fucking." He bit out.
"No, it was more like I screwed him because I had to." Because someone didn't
trust me.
"Because you had to?" Jace laughed, but it choked abruptly in his throat as
he threw out, "Because it's my fault, what you had to do."
"Yes!" I said hotly. "It is your fault!"
Jace finished his second drink and fell back against his seat, disgusted.
"What?" I waited, my eyes glittering in fury, ready for this battle. It had
been brewing, too many things had been brewing and they'd been put on the
backburner time and time again. Now was their time.
"I know it's my fault." Jace cringed and his jaw tightened. "I know that, but
I still—I want to change it. I want to think how I could've done things
differently, but I don't. Everytime I think of a different loophole, it always
ended with you not walking in there and that was necessary."
"I would've gone in if I'd known what this was all about."
"No, you wouldn't. You would've thought of another way, but it wouldn't have
worked."
His words struck deep, too deep, but I threw back, "And how do you goddamn
know that so well?"
"Because you're not fighting, Maya!" Jace hurled at me and stood to pace.
"You're not fighting. You're not—you've backtracked from the first second you
realized that you might be heading back to Marcus. You were a different person
when I met you on that cemetery. And look at you now, your little friend
betrayed you and all you do is throw a few words at her? Are you serious?"
"What are you so pissed about?! Why don't you tell me that!" I stood and
cried out. But he was right. And it had started to be an ongoing battle, with
him and within myself.
Jace got in my face and cut, "I'm mad that you slept with him. I'm mad that I
could've stopped it. I'm mad that you've barely reacted to what I've told you
about the kids. And I'm mad that you know so goddamn much about my life and I
know shit about yours. I can guess. I can guess that you were a pretty scared
little girl and that's why Marcus loved you. He could mold you how he wanted you
to be and I'm pissed as hell that he's part of the reason for who you are when
you stand in front of me!"
"Wha—"
"And I need you to fight. I need you to pull out that fucking blade of yours
and use it when someone betrays you. You told her to get out of your face, are
you fucking kidding me?!" Jace spewed, frustrated and disgusted.
My fists clenched, but I held still, lethally so still.
"He's going to go after your weakness. He's going to hit, over and over and
over again until you fall down screaming for your life. I need you to know where
he's going to hit and I need you to fight back. You need to meet him head-on and
if you can't even meet me squarely, you're going to die at the end of this."
"Shut up." I snapped out, hoarsely. I was starting to grow blind.
Jace got in my face. I felt his breath against me as he said hotly, "You
think you let him screw you before? That was just a teaser for what's going to
come. You're gone. You left him, not once, but twice. He's not going to want you
back just to love you. He's going to be blind in his rage and he's going to come
after you to hurt you. He's going to want to make you suffer. And here you are,
a fucking statue that can say a few words."
Fine. He was going to throw shit, I could meet him. Head fucking on.
"What's this really about? Is this about Taryn? You can't handle seeing her
today so you just want to strike at me? Want me to lay down? You can have a few
kicks for free." I spewed out.
"That's exactly what I don't want!" Jace cried out. "I want you furious. I
want you willing to go after her, if that's what it means to survive. I want you
ready to go head to head with her. You fucking survive, but if you were to throw
down with Taryn today, she would've rolled over you and backed up for another
go."
"You kinda threw a lot at me." I cried in my defense.
Jace grasped my arms roughly and backed me against a wall. Two frames fell
off the wall from the force, but I didn't feel it. I just saw him in front of
me, I felt him against me.
"Taryn is nothing compared to Marcus!" Jace snapped out. "Taryn's a few hurt
feelings, that's all. You want to know why I don't want to talk about Taryn?
Because I can't. I can't focus on her because Marcus is going to come after us
and he's coming for blood. We have to find the Key and the Master before he
finds us. Taryn is my family, she always will be, but she's not a part of this
fight. You are!"
"Fine!" I shoved him back and pushed him against a wall instead. Two more
pictures crashed to the ground, but neither of us paid attention to the
shattered glass. "You want to know what pisses me off?"
"Yes!"
It wasn't words that I threw. Instead, my hand flashed to my waistband,
expertly flipped my blade out and held it suspended between two bent
fingers.
Jace was waiting, but I plunged the knife into his side and ripped it across
the front, slashing deep across his stomach.
Jace gasped, but stood still. The fury was wrestling with something else, it
was inside both of us, but I flipped the blade again and raised my hand to bring
it back.
Jace caught it and switched our positions. I was slammed against the wall and
he stood with my blade in his hands.
"Give it to me." I said softly, warning.
"No." He said simply. He leaned close and taunted, "What are you going to
do?"
"You want to know why I only threw words at Cora today? You want to know why
I didn't react to everything bullshit that's happened? That you let me walk into
a nest of hornets and I was ready to sell my soul to live? You want to know why
I haven't reacted to that?" I bit out.
"Yes!"
I stomped on his foot and my hand reached for my blade in the same
instant.
Jace wasn't distracted and merely wrestled me back against the wall, but with
his arms around me and my knife held suspended against my throat instead.
"Because when I think about it," I said smoothly, unmindful of the blade, "I
want to do murder. I want to kill someone and I can't kill you. That's the
animal inside of me that you want unleashed, but you don't want that unleashed.
I'll reign so much destruction, you won't be able to reign me back in. I won't
be able to do that."
Jace smiled, the picture of a bloodied angel reigning death, when he
whispered and dipped forward for a swipe at my lips. "You're all composed and
ice, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, Maya. You boil hot inside
and I need that if we're going to win against Marcus. I need you to trust that I
can reign you in, because I can. You're light and darkness, but the light won't
win this. I need darkness to be pitted against darkness. I need that animal
inside of you."
"That part of me is itching for my blade."
"You want another swipe at me?" Jace shifted so I was still held in place as
his arm was free to cup my cheek and tilt my head backwards, for his better
access.
"Is this what you really want?" I whispered, coldly, and lifted my leg around
his. I slid it up to entwine around his waist and pushed myself farther up on
the wall. My breasts were just before him, but Jace lifted his glittering eyes
and reached into mine. "You've wanted to screw me since I plunged my knife into
Oscar. I turned you on that night. I think every violent thing I do makes you
hot. Am I right?"
Jace smiled and returned, "Maybe this is what you want? You want to erase all
those moments with Marcus? When he made you whimper for him? Did you come down
on him? Did he tie you up? Your wrists looked red when I saw you lying in his
bed."
I snarled my rage and threw myself down, coming into full contact with him.
Eye to eye, I leaned in and took his mouth in mine. My tongue overpowered his
and neither of us could contain a groan from the pleasure. It was intoxicating
and dangerous at the same time.
I nipped at his lips and returned, a growl, "Maybe that's what you want to
do? You saw Taryn today. You know that Evans is going to be inside of her
tonight, maybe you're hoping that she'll whimper your name when he makes her
explode. Is that what you're going to think when you're doing me?!"
Jace held my head captive as his fingers slid into my hair and grasped them.
He held me immobile as he explored my mouth at his contented pace. I gasped and
he delighted in the wider access. When he slid his mouth down to my neck, he
whispered, "You want to know about Taryn? I didn't even talk to her, Maya." He
slid his tongue back inside and I closed my eyes against the battling war of
desire and power. The desire won against the need to overpower and I nearly
whimpered when he took his mouth away.
"She stood outside the office door and waited, but I never talked to her. You
wanna know why? Because she would've asked questions about you, about why I was
with you, what I was doing, what you were up to." He laughed a regretful laugh
and his hand imprisoned my face, his fingers spread wide and held me captive as
he said bitterly, "Taryn doesn't know me like you do. That's what's sad. In all
our years, Taryn knew what I let her know, but you…you see what I don't want you
to see."
I didn't have any more words to throw back. Instead, I broke away from his
imprisoned hold, grabbed his arm in return, and took the blade from his fingers.
Jace watched me, intently, but he let me do what I wanted.
I dropped the blade, purposely, on the couch and shoved him away.
Jace stood, just beyond touching, and watched.
I saw what I hadn't named before.
Lust.
It was inside of me and it spoke volumes from Jace.
Slowly, I breathed, in and out. We were at a standstill.
To fight or to dispense with the foreplay?
Jace made the decision and slammed me back against the wall. I held my own
and before I was aware of how it happened, Jace had me on a bed, underneath him,
and we were frantically working at our clothes.
Jace skimmed a hand underneath me and lifted me up while he tore my shirt off
and my bra was quick to follow.
As his mouth settled on my breasts, his hands quickly worked at my pants.
I dragged his shirt up and Jace readily lifted to let the shirt fly free. As
his own pants were pushed down and shoved further with my feet, I moved upwards
from the force and Jace bent his head to explore my waist and sunk further
down.
Gasping, my hands twisted in his hair, and after my back had arched for a few
tormenting moments, Jace lifted himself up. I stretched from head to toe to
press against him, all of him, and he found my neck with his mouth,
possessively, and with one hand clamped on my hip, he pushed inside.
It was rough, delicious, and passionate at the same moment. Jace was
sensually seductive at moments and fiercely demanding at others. As I gasped for
our third time, Jace chuckled hoarsely just after he collasped on top of me.
That's when we heard his phone ringing.
Jace moved out from the twisted bedsheets, pulled on a pair of jeans, but
left with them unzipped and unbuttoned.
That's when I realized that we were on blue silk sheets. For some reason,
knowing that Munsinger would keep silk sheets on his bed, or—I glanced
around—for the guest bedroom, was in complete character with his delusions that
more spoke hallucinations than an artist's vision.
Jace came back into the bedroom, skimmed his eyes up and down and smiled
appreciatively as he crawled next to me.
"Who was that?" I asked and sat up as Jace braced himself against the
headboard.
"That was," He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "Adam. He has what I
want from him."
"He helped Taryn and Tray before?" I asked when I stood up and searched
inside the closet.
Jace watched intently as I let the bedsheet fall and slipped into a tight
white long-sleeve shirt that hugged all the right curves. I found some boxer
underwear and pulled them on.
Judging from the small grin that tugged at Jace's lips, I wondered if they'd
be thrown off as quick as I put them on, but I moved back to the bed and Jace
replied, "Yeah. I was impressed with him and recruited him a year after the
whole Galverson thing went down. He told me about his brother, so I recruited
him too."
"What did you want from Adam?"
"I told him about Marcus' Job theme. I wanted him to run possible themes for
where he might've placed the Key and the Master. Adam thinks that Marcus is
using a theological theme since Job is actually a test for God's godliness and
faith."
"So what does he think?"
"What do you think?" Jace threw my question back and watched intently. "You
know Marcus the best. What would make sense in his twisted mind?"
I thought about it, really thought about it, and Jace waited patiently.
Finally, I murmured, "Marcus was God, right?"
"Right."
"And there's three books?"
"Four, but we only want three and Marcus knows that. You replace the fourth
book and it's consequently inconsequential." Jace had the faintest shadow of a
grin on his face.
"So…I have nothing." I said bluntly.
Jace laughed shortly and cursed when his phone rang again. He stayed this
time and answered, "Yeah?" He didn't stay long as he heard what the other person
was saying. Jace sent an apologetic look over his shoulder and left, still
shirtless, and this time I fully appreciated the outline of every muscle in his
back.
I sighed, heard a tone that signified he'd be on the phone for awhile, and
moved to the shower.
As I left, showered and dressed—again—I was greeted with the image of a fully
dressed Jace, complete with a vest and his weapons strapped on.
I stopped short in the living room as I saw him bend to grab my blade, "Where
are you going?"
Jace flipped the blade in the air and I caught it deftly. It was sheathed
back in place absent-mindedly as I waited for his reply.
"Taryn wants to talk to me so I'm going to meet with her, just for a little
bit."
"That's why you're wearing your vest?"
"No." Jace grimaced. "I'm wearing my vest because I have other enemies
besides Marcus that all know that I care about Taryn. This morning was a fluke
and we walked in, blind. We were stupid—I was stupid. I wasn't thinking
straight, but…things are more clear now."
I grinned, cockily, "Meaning now that we've finally acted on our primal
urges, we can think clearly like adults?"
"Somewhat." Jace admitted. "But I'm also going to meet with some other
contacts. I want to get a better feel for how much Marcus has moved into New
York. He's taking over Broozer's territory and I want to know why, why now."
"Okay." I turned and leaned against the wall as Jace moved towards me.
"You should sleep." He murmured and skimmed a hand down my hair and curved
around to cup my cheek. "I don't think you slept much last night."
"I haven't slept in nearly three days." Neither had he.
"Mmm." Jace hummed and moved in for a kiss. Our lips met, battled for more,
and it was an effort to separate.
But we did and when he moved away, Jace reached up and pinched my breast.
"That was a cheap grab." I called after him, but the door shut on his
laughter.
We parked in the alley and Jace scouted the street first and then moved
around the corner to make sure. He didn't see anyone, so he gave the go-ahead to
move in.
Jace followed as I moved to Munsinger's antique Chevrolet. I popped the hood
and there was his key, complete with a code for the door's keypad. I memorized
the code and we got through the first set of doors and moved into a spacious
luxurious hallway that looked like a typical frontdoor for any self-respecting
hotel.
Munsinger hated hotels and he hated frontdesks, so I wasn't surprised to not
see any receptionist or any frontdoor bellhops or even a mere frontdesk.
Instead, the hallway opened into a garden, complete with a gazebo, and an
archway for the building tenants to walk beneath on their way to their
homes.
I chuckled as I pictured Munsinger's poetic eyes. He must've glazed over
everytime he pretended to frolick through the watering mists of lilies, daisies,
and every flower under the heavens.
"What?" Jace asked.
"Nothing." He wouldn't understand.
As we pushed through the door onto Munsinger's floor, I brought the key to
his door's lock and Jace swept the inside once more.
I waited outside until he appeared, gun in hand, and remarked, "It's empty. I
didn't see any surveillance taps."
The front entryway opened onto their kitchen, complete with blue marble
flooring and gray marble countertops. The extravagant apartment was sleek,
modern, and had Munsinger's flare for artistry and poetry. Poems and litanies
from were framed and hung throughout the apartment.
An entire wall in the dining room housed hundreds of wine bottles held in
place between bricks that jutted out from the wall. On the other side was a
fireplace and a leather couch that outlined the living room's wall and circled
around into the dining room.
Another room must've been Munsinger's dream room. Statues, portraits,
photographs, and poems was displayed in every corner and every tile on the wall.
It was a sunroom, but the glass was checkered off into blue, green, white, and
yellow. And instead of only have one wall or ceiling made of glass, the entire
room was glass.
I had wandered around as Jace must've done his own perusal.
Munsinger's voice rang loud and echoingly clear as I recognized an automated
voicemail.
A beep sounded and his voice jarred against the seemingly peaceful his voice
had just left to leave a message.
"Uh…Vii, you're going to be dreadfully angry with me. I am hoping against
hope that you decide to check our messages while you're visiting your mother in
Switzerland, but…things haven't ended how I had presumed them to be." He
hesitated and I stepped back into the kitchen area where the machine was
located.
Jace looked up and held my eyes.
"He's…" I whispered. "Something's wrong."
I heard the infliction in his voice. I knew what that meant and he had
recently been crying.
"I did what my Maya Angel wanted of me. I came out here and I spoke with my
haunted past, but…it didn't go how I, actually, it went exactly how I dreaded it
to be. Things are not clear for me anymore, my Viiwa Tribal Goddess.
Um…something is holding me here, still, and I very much hope that it has nothing
to do with pre-wedding jitters because things like this never happen to me. You
see, I loved a girl here, once, and I thought her child was my child. And…when I
learned his true paternal roots, I…I'm afraid that I cut myself off from this
child who I had promised and whispered my reverant earnest tones to him when he
was still a fetus. He wasn't mine and I couldn't…it hurt too much, my dear. It
hurt dreadfully and…I've come to see him again and…"
I heard a small sniffle in his voice and knew the tears were rolling once
more.
I held my breath.
Munsinger continued, a weak laugh in his voice, "I am confused and I am alone
and I am standing outside in the rain right now. I don't know what to do, Viiwa.
You are visiting your mother and are not expected to return until the fifth,
but…I lost the phone number for there and I'd very much like to get in touch
with you. I…" He cleared his throat and breathed out, "I love this child, Viiwa,
as if he's mine. And after observing how this other man in his life treats him,
I've come to realize that no one, but myself can truly be a father figure to
this precious child's life. As much as I hate to admit this, Stephen is very
nice and a well man for Cherry. He's not a father to Gray, not yet. And…I really
think this was a wake-up call, my dear. I am supposed to be in this child's
life. I am supposed to…I've decided to stay for a few more days and converse
with Cherry some more."
Munsinger cried now. His sobs spoke volumes as he choked out, "He knew my
voice. He stopped in the hallway and he looked at me when he heard my voice. He
knew me, Viiwa. That means something….that had to mean something!"
The phone clicked off and I stood motionless, staring at the machine,
picturing my emotional poet on the other end, soaked from the rain, and smiling
widely as invisible tears dripped down his cheeks.
I must've stood for awhile, rooted in place, when Jace left to change
clothes.
He looked freshly showered when he returned back the back rooms and remarked
dryly, "We've got the place to ourselves."
"Yes." I sighed.
Jace rubbed at his wet hair and commented, "You want to take a shower?"
"God yes." I breathed out.
This is where I'm supposed to say that I felt refreshed, purged, and ready to
face the world again.
It wasn't so.
The water hit my dull skin and dull hair. It washed my hair, it cleansed and
purified my skin cells, but it never registered to my heart.
I found some new clothes in my bag, remembered that Jace had said he got some
new items, and pulled on a pair of loose-fitting black gauchos that swirled
around my hips and gave the appeal of a skirt. I wore a grey lacy camisole and
tucked my hair into a frenchtwist.
The apartment was warm enough to attend in summer clothes, but that wasn't
the reason for my attire.
I needed something to wake me up. I can handle a lot. Not much will actually
get to me, but the exhausting rollercoaster from the last few days had taken
it's toll. Even with thoughts that my life would be with Marcus again hadn't
fully been realized and penetrated yet.
And Jace's revelation about the children took the cake, along with the
knowledge that Krein had now seen his son.
My brother was an imprisoned force. I had likened him to a caged tiger and I
had even baited him with his son as a carrot, but he hadn't seen his child. He
hadn't known of his child, but he knew for certainty now.
And now that he had, I was reluctant to acknowledge what he would do and what
destruction he would reign.
Jace had opened two bottles of wine with two glasses and he poured each of
them to the brinking top.
"What's this for?" I knew, but I asked anyway as I curled my feet underneath
me and took a sip.
"What do you think?" Jace cut out. "It's for our shit day and the shit day
before that and the shit week before that."
I saluted him, "I'll drink to that."
Jace threw back his first glass.
I threw mine also. And commented, "You saw Taryn today—"
"I don't want to talk about Taryn." Jace interrupted me and poured two more
glasses. "What about your friend?"
"I don't want to talk about Cora and not why you want to talk about Taryn.
Cora's just…not worth it."
Jace arched an eyebrow, leaned back, and asked with watchful eyes, "So what
do you want to talk about? Marcus?"
"Fine." I surprised him and leaned forward, a brimming glass of wine in my
hands. "What do you want to talk about?"
Something harsh slammed in his eyes and he said quietly, cruelly, "What was
it like? Feeling him inside you again?"
"Is that what you want to know?" I breathed out, feeling alarmingly excited
as I rode a very dangerous wave. "What it was like making love to him?"
"Is that what you did? I thought it was just fucking." He bit out.
"No, it was more like I screwed him because I had to." Because someone didn't
trust me.
"Because you had to?" Jace laughed, but it choked abruptly in his throat as
he threw out, "Because it's my fault, what you had to do."
"Yes!" I said hotly. "It is your fault!"
Jace finished his second drink and fell back against his seat, disgusted.
"What?" I waited, my eyes glittering in fury, ready for this battle. It had
been brewing, too many things had been brewing and they'd been put on the
backburner time and time again. Now was their time.
"I know it's my fault." Jace cringed and his jaw tightened. "I know that, but
I still—I want to change it. I want to think how I could've done things
differently, but I don't. Everytime I think of a different loophole, it always
ended with you not walking in there and that was necessary."
"I would've gone in if I'd known what this was all about."
"No, you wouldn't. You would've thought of another way, but it wouldn't have
worked."
His words struck deep, too deep, but I threw back, "And how do you goddamn
know that so well?"
"Because you're not fighting, Maya!" Jace hurled at me and stood to pace.
"You're not fighting. You're not—you've backtracked from the first second you
realized that you might be heading back to Marcus. You were a different person
when I met you on that cemetery. And look at you now, your little friend
betrayed you and all you do is throw a few words at her? Are you serious?"
"What are you so pissed about?! Why don't you tell me that!" I stood and
cried out. But he was right. And it had started to be an ongoing battle, with
him and within myself.
Jace got in my face and cut, "I'm mad that you slept with him. I'm mad that I
could've stopped it. I'm mad that you've barely reacted to what I've told you
about the kids. And I'm mad that you know so goddamn much about my life and I
know shit about yours. I can guess. I can guess that you were a pretty scared
little girl and that's why Marcus loved you. He could mold you how he wanted you
to be and I'm pissed as hell that he's part of the reason for who you are when
you stand in front of me!"
"Wha—"
"And I need you to fight. I need you to pull out that fucking blade of yours
and use it when someone betrays you. You told her to get out of your face, are
you fucking kidding me?!" Jace spewed, frustrated and disgusted.
My fists clenched, but I held still, lethally so still.
"He's going to go after your weakness. He's going to hit, over and over and
over again until you fall down screaming for your life. I need you to know where
he's going to hit and I need you to fight back. You need to meet him head-on and
if you can't even meet me squarely, you're going to die at the end of this."
"Shut up." I snapped out, hoarsely. I was starting to grow blind.
Jace got in my face. I felt his breath against me as he said hotly, "You
think you let him screw you before? That was just a teaser for what's going to
come. You're gone. You left him, not once, but twice. He's not going to want you
back just to love you. He's going to be blind in his rage and he's going to come
after you to hurt you. He's going to want to make you suffer. And here you are,
a fucking statue that can say a few words."
Fine. He was going to throw shit, I could meet him. Head fucking on.
"What's this really about? Is this about Taryn? You can't handle seeing her
today so you just want to strike at me? Want me to lay down? You can have a few
kicks for free." I spewed out.
"That's exactly what I don't want!" Jace cried out. "I want you furious. I
want you willing to go after her, if that's what it means to survive. I want you
ready to go head to head with her. You fucking survive, but if you were to throw
down with Taryn today, she would've rolled over you and backed up for another
go."
"You kinda threw a lot at me." I cried in my defense.
Jace grasped my arms roughly and backed me against a wall. Two frames fell
off the wall from the force, but I didn't feel it. I just saw him in front of
me, I felt him against me.
"Taryn is nothing compared to Marcus!" Jace snapped out. "Taryn's a few hurt
feelings, that's all. You want to know why I don't want to talk about Taryn?
Because I can't. I can't focus on her because Marcus is going to come after us
and he's coming for blood. We have to find the Key and the Master before he
finds us. Taryn is my family, she always will be, but she's not a part of this
fight. You are!"
"Fine!" I shoved him back and pushed him against a wall instead. Two more
pictures crashed to the ground, but neither of us paid attention to the
shattered glass. "You want to know what pisses me off?"
"Yes!"
It wasn't words that I threw. Instead, my hand flashed to my waistband,
expertly flipped my blade out and held it suspended between two bent
fingers.
Jace was waiting, but I plunged the knife into his side and ripped it across
the front, slashing deep across his stomach.
Jace gasped, but stood still. The fury was wrestling with something else, it
was inside both of us, but I flipped the blade again and raised my hand to bring
it back.
Jace caught it and switched our positions. I was slammed against the wall and
he stood with my blade in his hands.
"Give it to me." I said softly, warning.
"No." He said simply. He leaned close and taunted, "What are you going to
do?"
"You want to know why I only threw words at Cora today? You want to know why
I didn't react to everything bullshit that's happened? That you let me walk into
a nest of hornets and I was ready to sell my soul to live? You want to know why
I haven't reacted to that?" I bit out.
"Yes!"
I stomped on his foot and my hand reached for my blade in the same
instant.
Jace wasn't distracted and merely wrestled me back against the wall, but with
his arms around me and my knife held suspended against my throat instead.
"Because when I think about it," I said smoothly, unmindful of the blade, "I
want to do murder. I want to kill someone and I can't kill you. That's the
animal inside of me that you want unleashed, but you don't want that unleashed.
I'll reign so much destruction, you won't be able to reign me back in. I won't
be able to do that."
Jace smiled, the picture of a bloodied angel reigning death, when he
whispered and dipped forward for a swipe at my lips. "You're all composed and
ice, but I've said it before and I'll say it again, Maya. You boil hot inside
and I need that if we're going to win against Marcus. I need you to trust that I
can reign you in, because I can. You're light and darkness, but the light won't
win this. I need darkness to be pitted against darkness. I need that animal
inside of you."
"That part of me is itching for my blade."
"You want another swipe at me?" Jace shifted so I was still held in place as
his arm was free to cup my cheek and tilt my head backwards, for his better
access.
"Is this what you really want?" I whispered, coldly, and lifted my leg around
his. I slid it up to entwine around his waist and pushed myself farther up on
the wall. My breasts were just before him, but Jace lifted his glittering eyes
and reached into mine. "You've wanted to screw me since I plunged my knife into
Oscar. I turned you on that night. I think every violent thing I do makes you
hot. Am I right?"
Jace smiled and returned, "Maybe this is what you want? You want to erase all
those moments with Marcus? When he made you whimper for him? Did you come down
on him? Did he tie you up? Your wrists looked red when I saw you lying in his
bed."
I snarled my rage and threw myself down, coming into full contact with him.
Eye to eye, I leaned in and took his mouth in mine. My tongue overpowered his
and neither of us could contain a groan from the pleasure. It was intoxicating
and dangerous at the same time.
I nipped at his lips and returned, a growl, "Maybe that's what you want to
do? You saw Taryn today. You know that Evans is going to be inside of her
tonight, maybe you're hoping that she'll whimper your name when he makes her
explode. Is that what you're going to think when you're doing me?!"
Jace held my head captive as his fingers slid into my hair and grasped them.
He held me immobile as he explored my mouth at his contented pace. I gasped and
he delighted in the wider access. When he slid his mouth down to my neck, he
whispered, "You want to know about Taryn? I didn't even talk to her, Maya." He
slid his tongue back inside and I closed my eyes against the battling war of
desire and power. The desire won against the need to overpower and I nearly
whimpered when he took his mouth away.
"She stood outside the office door and waited, but I never talked to her. You
wanna know why? Because she would've asked questions about you, about why I was
with you, what I was doing, what you were up to." He laughed a regretful laugh
and his hand imprisoned my face, his fingers spread wide and held me captive as
he said bitterly, "Taryn doesn't know me like you do. That's what's sad. In all
our years, Taryn knew what I let her know, but you…you see what I don't want you
to see."
I didn't have any more words to throw back. Instead, I broke away from his
imprisoned hold, grabbed his arm in return, and took the blade from his fingers.
Jace watched me, intently, but he let me do what I wanted.
I dropped the blade, purposely, on the couch and shoved him away.
Jace stood, just beyond touching, and watched.
I saw what I hadn't named before.
Lust.
It was inside of me and it spoke volumes from Jace.
Slowly, I breathed, in and out. We were at a standstill.
To fight or to dispense with the foreplay?
Jace made the decision and slammed me back against the wall. I held my own
and before I was aware of how it happened, Jace had me on a bed, underneath him,
and we were frantically working at our clothes.
Jace skimmed a hand underneath me and lifted me up while he tore my shirt off
and my bra was quick to follow.
As his mouth settled on my breasts, his hands quickly worked at my pants.
I dragged his shirt up and Jace readily lifted to let the shirt fly free. As
his own pants were pushed down and shoved further with my feet, I moved upwards
from the force and Jace bent his head to explore my waist and sunk further
down.
Gasping, my hands twisted in his hair, and after my back had arched for a few
tormenting moments, Jace lifted himself up. I stretched from head to toe to
press against him, all of him, and he found my neck with his mouth,
possessively, and with one hand clamped on my hip, he pushed inside.
It was rough, delicious, and passionate at the same moment. Jace was
sensually seductive at moments and fiercely demanding at others. As I gasped for
our third time, Jace chuckled hoarsely just after he collasped on top of me.
That's when we heard his phone ringing.
Jace moved out from the twisted bedsheets, pulled on a pair of jeans, but
left with them unzipped and unbuttoned.
That's when I realized that we were on blue silk sheets. For some reason,
knowing that Munsinger would keep silk sheets on his bed, or—I glanced
around—for the guest bedroom, was in complete character with his delusions that
more spoke hallucinations than an artist's vision.
Jace came back into the bedroom, skimmed his eyes up and down and smiled
appreciatively as he crawled next to me.
"Who was that?" I asked and sat up as Jace braced himself against the
headboard.
"That was," He sighed and raked a hand through his hair. "Adam. He has what I
want from him."
"He helped Taryn and Tray before?" I asked when I stood up and searched
inside the closet.
Jace watched intently as I let the bedsheet fall and slipped into a tight
white long-sleeve shirt that hugged all the right curves. I found some boxer
underwear and pulled them on.
Judging from the small grin that tugged at Jace's lips, I wondered if they'd
be thrown off as quick as I put them on, but I moved back to the bed and Jace
replied, "Yeah. I was impressed with him and recruited him a year after the
whole Galverson thing went down. He told me about his brother, so I recruited
him too."
"What did you want from Adam?"
"I told him about Marcus' Job theme. I wanted him to run possible themes for
where he might've placed the Key and the Master. Adam thinks that Marcus is
using a theological theme since Job is actually a test for God's godliness and
faith."
"So what does he think?"
"What do you think?" Jace threw my question back and watched intently. "You
know Marcus the best. What would make sense in his twisted mind?"
I thought about it, really thought about it, and Jace waited patiently.
Finally, I murmured, "Marcus was God, right?"
"Right."
"And there's three books?"
"Four, but we only want three and Marcus knows that. You replace the fourth
book and it's consequently inconsequential." Jace had the faintest shadow of a
grin on his face.
"So…I have nothing." I said bluntly.
Jace laughed shortly and cursed when his phone rang again. He stayed this
time and answered, "Yeah?" He didn't stay long as he heard what the other person
was saying. Jace sent an apologetic look over his shoulder and left, still
shirtless, and this time I fully appreciated the outline of every muscle in his
back.
I sighed, heard a tone that signified he'd be on the phone for awhile, and
moved to the shower.
As I left, showered and dressed—again—I was greeted with the image of a fully
dressed Jace, complete with a vest and his weapons strapped on.
I stopped short in the living room as I saw him bend to grab my blade, "Where
are you going?"
Jace flipped the blade in the air and I caught it deftly. It was sheathed
back in place absent-mindedly as I waited for his reply.
"Taryn wants to talk to me so I'm going to meet with her, just for a little
bit."
"That's why you're wearing your vest?"
"No." Jace grimaced. "I'm wearing my vest because I have other enemies
besides Marcus that all know that I care about Taryn. This morning was a fluke
and we walked in, blind. We were stupid—I was stupid. I wasn't thinking
straight, but…things are more clear now."
I grinned, cockily, "Meaning now that we've finally acted on our primal
urges, we can think clearly like adults?"
"Somewhat." Jace admitted. "But I'm also going to meet with some other
contacts. I want to get a better feel for how much Marcus has moved into New
York. He's taking over Broozer's territory and I want to know why, why now."
"Okay." I turned and leaned against the wall as Jace moved towards me.
"You should sleep." He murmured and skimmed a hand down my hair and curved
around to cup my cheek. "I don't think you slept much last night."
"I haven't slept in nearly three days." Neither had he.
"Mmm." Jace hummed and moved in for a kiss. Our lips met, battled for more,
and it was an effort to separate.
But we did and when he moved away, Jace reached up and pinched my breast.
"That was a cheap grab." I called after him, but the door shut on his
laughter.