Celestials

“Immortal like you can’t die?” I screeched.

He looked at the ground as we walked. “Like I already died and now I’m the Incomitatus.”

“Then why the hell are you so scared of lightning bolts and fireballs? And why do they try to kill you with them if it won’t work?” I snapped. This was getting ridiculous. He was immortal? What kind of twisted nightmare had I stepped into?

“Because it won’t kill us in the way you think of. But they do hurt the mortal bodies we’re in so bad that we have to go to a safe place and…regenerate them. It would leave you unprotected for a while if I was hurt,” he explained. “I can’t let that happen.”

I looked at him skeptically. “So how old are you exactly?”

Jude scratched his head and looked forward, not meeting my eyes. “Exactly? Hard to say, being I’m not technically alive. But I’ve been around a very long time.”

“Technically alive? Aren’t you either dead or not…dead?” My head started hurting.

“Yes and no. Most people in my…situation don’t stay on earth long. Like Gabe,” he said, grasping at straws. “He usually stays in h-“ he choked, “with the Nordic gods and only comes to earth when he has a job to do.”

“Like getting me to do his bidding?” I asked, bitterness lacing my words.

A quick smile flashed over Jude’s face. “Something like that. I, on the other hand, don’t really have anywhere to go, so I stay on earth. Pretty much have since the beginning. The longer you’re on earth…the more…alive you feel.”

“Huh.” I looked at him. “So you’ve been on earth…you know, living here as the Incomitatus for how long?”

Jude looked at me, his expression changed. Oh man, how old was he? “You really want to know?”

I nodded. “Trust, Jude.” He mumbled something incoherent. “What was that? I didn’t quite catch your indistinct mumbling.”

He sighed, watching me this time. “Over 2,000 years.”

I don’t think I said anything. Maybe I did. I know my eyes felt like they were going to pop out of my head. 2,000 years? That was a long time. A really, really long time. Christ, what time period was he alive for real? Shit. He was old, in that never aging type of way and worldly. He had to be – he spent thousands of years on earth. Thousands of years. You only ever said that when talking about ancient civilizations and stuff. He was a living archeologist or sociologist or something. Except he wasn’t really living.

God, this was confusing. He seemed alive. I mean, he wasn’t cold like vampires – if they were even real. He wasn’t transparent like ghosts, not that I’d ever seen one, that I knew of. Jude was a solid, warm blooded male. I’d felt it.

“Rory, say something,” he pleaded.

I stared at him. “Two thousand years? I don’t even know how to respond to that, let alone imagine all of the weird knowledge you have stuffed in that crazy head of yours which may or may not be alive but certainly is dead, unless you’re like a vampire which you’re not because you haven’t once tried to suck my blood except for the time you were getting the poison out but that wasn’t in an I’m-craving-your-blood-way but in a I’m-going-to-save-your-life way, which you did and I’m completely grateful for even if what you’re saying is irrational, confusing, and yet, I’m hard pressed to believe it because in a strange way it makes everything make so much sense, you know?”

“So you’re a little freaked out,” Jude told me. I leveled a look at him. Of course, I was freaked out. “Badly. That was the longest, most confusing run-on sentence yet. Vampires?”

“Are they real?” I asked, wondering why I was questioning him about things that didn’t really matter at the moment.

“Not in the way that you think.” He looked around, as if he was trying to see who was around.

Ugh. “But they’re still real?”

Jude swiped his hand down his face. “When you ingest someone’s blood, you take a piece of their anima, their energy. Certain demons found it made them feel powerful and it does for a very short period of time. But it’s like heroin, the more you do it, the more you need to create power. But as they’re doing that, their bodies are eating themselves from the inside out. I guess, it’s like a checks and balances. Their bodies die from the inside out, so they must be sent back to h-“ his voice croaked. “Sent back to the fiery, bat people to regenerate their body. Normally, that curbs the craving.”

“Is their skin really cold? Does holy water and crosses hurt them? What about garlic and sunshine?” I rapid-fired questions at him.

He turned and continued walking, eyes to the ground like he was trying to formulate his responses. Maybe he was because of the gag order. “Their skin is cold because of their bodies destroying themselves inside out. Holy water and crosses only harm them if they were religious in their life and it’s not really a pain, as much as guilt. However, with the extra anima in them, their emotions are doubled so the guilt is doubled. Garlic is funny. I never figured out where that rumor started. As for sun, it doesn’t hurt them. However, they tend to go out at night because it’s easier to hide and prey on people. Also, the more their body deteriorates, the more like depraved creatures they look. They would stand out in regular society.”

“Great. One more thing to worry about,” I mumbled.

“You don’t have to worry about them, the sanguinem occupanti, the blood takers. They tend to stay away from me,” he added. When I threw him a speculative look, he continued, a glimmer of hatred in his eyes. “I hurt them.”

I smirked. “So it’s not just me. You protect everyone from supernatural scariness, Lancelot.”

“The world is enormous. I can’t be everywhere at once,” he answered dejectedly. Jude seemed seriously upset that he couldn’t protect the whole world.

“You’re one person.”

“Yeah.” It was a glum, sad yeah.

“Hey,” I stopped him with a hand on his arm. “You can’t save everyone. But from what I’ve seen, you do better than anyone else.”

“Thanks,” he said politely. He didn’t believe one word of what I said. It wasn’t because he didn’t believe I meant it. It was because he didn’t believe in himself.

“So what was your favorite time period?” I tried changing subjects.

“What?”

“Your favorite time period? What was the greatest to live in?” I wanted to know. It must be hard to see people you cared about die off, but to get to see progress and the world change. It must be fascinating.

He shrugged. “This one has pretty comfortable clothes.”

“Yeah, but I don’t care about that. What about the people? The politics? Anything?” He was looking at me like I had eight heads.

“I was focused on protecting people.”

“But you had to eat. What about food? You had to have some fun,” I cajoled him.

He snorted bitterly. “There’s not a lot of room for fun when you’re searching for people and then trying to protect them. When you’re not doing that, you’re searching out sanguinem occupanti and trying to avoid other catastrophic things.” His voice was laced with anger.

“You never have any fun?” I asked. “Not even here?”

He shrugged. “Here, I guess.”

My eyes widened, the truth finally dawning on me. “These are the first people you let in.” And then I realized something else, so surprising my voice squeaked. “Ever?”

“I guess,” he answered noncommittally.

“In two thousand years, you’ve never really let anyone in?” I couldn’t keep the incredulousness from my voice. I know I didn’t let people in, but I had only been messed up for twenty years. Two thousand? That was insane.

“Here and there.” His voice was letting me know he wasn’t happy with this line of questioning. “It never ends well. They eventually pass on and I get hurt.”

I suspected as much. “So why Sandy and Jim and their family?”

He smiled ruefully. “They wouldn’t let me shut them out.”

I smiled back. “Good for them. Now I have a mission to accomplish.”

Jude eyed me skeptically. “And that is?”

“You, Lancelot. You are going to have fun, if it’s the last thing I do.” His eyes darkened. Oops. It was very likely it would be the last thing I did.

“You have enough to worry about,” he muttered.

“I know,” I smiled. “This will be my project to get my mind off of it. Look,” I explained, “we’re in a really shitty situation. My demise is inevitable and the best we can hope for is that I don’t drag the whole world into some supernatural war. So we should find time to enjoy what time is left. Starting with this visit. Enjoy yourself and relax.”

“I’m not going to relax.” But I noticed he didn’t say no.

I smiled at my small victory. “Then at least enjoy yourself. Because I am.”

We checked ourselves into the hotel later that afternoon. Since Will, Jim and Sandy’s son, worked at the casino, he made the reservation at the hotel for us. This meant we got royal treatment – a suite all to ourselves. Unfortunately, it was a suite with one bedroom.

“I’ll sleep on the couch,” Jude told me.

I laughed thinking of his tall frame curled up on the small couch. “We’re supposed to be enjoying ourselves,” I told him tossing my pack on the bed.

“So?”

“So in the spirit of enjoying ourselves, we can share the bed. It’s a king size. It’ll be like I’m in another time zone,” I told him.

“We’ll figure it out later,” he mumbled.

I shot him an annoyed look. “We slept in my closet together which was like, half the size of this bed, at least. I promise I won’t molest you, Lancelot. When are we meeting them again?”

Jude settled down on the couch in the suite and flicked on the television. “An hour and a half.”

“Just enough time.” I figured in my spirit of having fun, I was going to wear my impractical purple dress and get dolled up. If I was supposed to be his girlfriend, the least I could do was try and impress them. Besides, there was a small part of me that wanted to see if I could knock Jude’s socks off.

I steamed the dress – they had one in the room - and used the hotel provided blow dryer to straighten my hair. I applied make-up, thankful I had decided to bring it with me. Wearing my sexiest underwear, not that I thought anyone would see it but I wanted to feel sexy, I struggled into my dress. The strapless dress hugged all the right curves and stopped mid-thigh. I felt beautiful and sexy but not trashy. The only problem was I couldn’t zip it myself.

At some point, I had heard Jude change in the bedroom and then return to the living room. I checked the clock, we were leaving in a few minutes. I put on my heels and headed out to the living room.

Jude looked up when I walked in and stared at me. I caught a flash of heat and desire in eyes before he careful composed his face. “You look beautiful,” he told me.

“Thanks,” I smiled. “You clean up well yourself.”

And he did. He was wearing gray woolen pants and a black button down shirt that hugged his chest. His hair was recklessly falling over his forehead and his biceps stretched the fabric at his arms when he moved his hand up to brush the hair out of his eyes.

“Uh,” I cleared my throat. “Could you zip me up?”

He nodded and moved behind me. I could smell his ocean water and outdoorsy scent, mixed with spicy cologne. It took all I had not to turn around and sniff him. Geez, get a hold of yourself Rory. It’s a guy. Just a guy.

Jude’s warm hands brushed my bare back as he moved the zipper up. Chills and the ever present electric current moved through my body and I took a deep breath. Yup, there was no way I was falling for him. Just lust. Pure, unadulterated, steaming hot, electrical lust. The air became heavy and heated between us.

Quickly, he zipped the dress the rest of the way up and stepped away from me. “All ready to go?” he choked out.

I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.

“They’ll be waiting,” he told me.

There is something about elevators. Bodies packed in with no way out creates an atmosphere of intense intimacy. There is a quiet awkwardness that comes of everyone trying to mind their own business but unable to because you’re on top of each other. Jude’s hand rested protectively against the small of my back and I clutched my purse tightly. The inane music pumped through the speakers and it made me want to scream. Perhaps I should be thankful for the three other people in the elevator with us. Otherwise, I would be sorely tempted to jump Jude.

As it was, I couldn’t help sliding glances his way. His eyes stayed steadfast on the floor numbers and his jaw was clenched with tension.

Finally, we arrived on the first floor. Our three fellow travelers slid out before us. Jude’s hand left my back, but took my hand.

“They think we’re dating,” he told me.

“I know.” It wasn’t like a big deal.

He sighed. “I’m going to be extra attentive.”

That didn’t sound so bad. So he would be refilling my drinks and pulling out my chair. That’s something I could get used to. But when I looked at him, Jude looked a little pained. “What?”

“They’re affectionate,” he told me. “And when I’m with them, I tend to be more affectionate.” Apparently, this bewildered him. I could hear it in his voice.

I smiled. “I noticed.”

“So,” he continued, “that will naturally carry over to you and our….relationship.”

I nodded. “I noticed that too.”

Jude stopped so abruptly I ran into him. His face was a mask of confusion. “You did?”

“Yeah, Lancelot,” I told him as I continued toward the restaurant. “When I agreed to come, you kissed me on the head.”

I thought I heard him mumble, “I did?” but I was already focused on the group of people waiting at the restaurant. Jim and Sandy were there with a bunch of people that I recognized from the photos on their walls. Jude was hugged by everyone and their happiness was contagious. Even Jude was beaming. Who were these people and how did they break through his stoic attitude?

Soon I was introduced around and Jenny immediately started grilling me.

“Don’t worry,” Sarah, Ed’s wife, leaned over to me while we were waiting for our food to arrive. “She did this to Chris and I. The guys said she questioned everyone they ever dated. It’s the same for Jude.” Then she laughed. “At least she’s married. You should have seen what she was like when she wasn’t and Jude mentioned a girl.”

“Did he do that a lot?” The question slipped out. I didn’t mean to ask that anymore than I meant to feel the shot of jealousy race through me.

Sarah smiled with understanding, brushing her long, dark hair over her shoulder. Her blue eyes filled with sympathy. “Not often, from what I can gather. And you’re the first one he’s ever brought home.”

I wanted to feel good about that. I know that’s how she meant it. Unfortunately, I knew Jude only brought me here because he had to. Under normal circumstances, well, the two of us probably would have never spoken.

Dinner ended up being a jovial affair. With these people ,it was easy to forget the terrible circumstances that had brought Jude and I here. So badly, I just wanted to pretend that everything that was happening was real; that I was just a normal girl meeting her normal boyfriend’s family. When Jude laughed or squeezed my hand, when Sarah whispered a confidential tidbit about the family, or when Sandy looked at me with happiness in her eyes, I could almost believe it.

I just couldn’t shake the bad feeling that this was all going to end. I mean, it was inevitable because we had to leave in a few days. With my impending death pressing down on me, I knew I would never return to this. It might be the last bit of family that I would interact with before my demise.

Jude’s warm breath tickled my ear. “Stop thinking about it. We’ll figure something out.”

I leaned over and whispered back. “I hate that you can tell that.”

“Perks of the job.”

“I thought that was just location and my troubled feelings,” I replied tartly.

He raised his eyebrows smartly. “These are troubled feelings.”

“Touché.”

Jude touched my cheek softly with his fingers. His dark eyes meeting my blue ones. “We’ll figure it out. I promise you.”

I closed my eyes, his hand so reassuring. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

“I’ll do my damndest to keep it.” His voice was harsh and rough with emotion. My eyes flew open and saw the fire raging in his. Without thinking, my hands grabbed either side of his face gently.

“I know,” I told him. “I know.”

He nodded in understanding. His soft lips touched my forehead, seeping warmth into my chilled body. “We’re supposed to be having fun, remember?”

I smiled. “Right. So what now?”

He tipped the bottle of wine until it filled my cup. “You drink that. It will help take your mind off things. And then,” he announced, like he wasn’t sure how I was going to take it, but I didn’t have a choice, “Jenny wants to go dancing.”

I scrunched up my face, taking a big gulp of wine. “I’m not much of a – I don’t really….dancing is not. Okay, listen,” I argued, taking another big gulp, “you’re talking to a girl who was ostracized for a good portion of her life. I never went to prom or any dances. My roommate in college dubbed my dancing move ‘The Epileptic’ because she said I looked like I was having a seizure. Dancing is not my thing. But,” another large swig of wine, “I will happily support you from the corner.”

“Still long, but not completely run-on,” he observed. “And you just haven’t had the right partner. We’ll be fine.”

I chugged the wine as I noticed everyone getting up from the table. “It’s your toes and pride.”

We moved out of the restaurant and to the casino, where there was a bar. In the middle of it was a dance floor. There were already several couples gyrating to the beat.

Panicked, I turned to Jude. “I’m going to need more to drink.”

Ed swung up behind me bearing a tall glass filled with a brownish liquid. It might have been a Long Island Ice Tea, but I wasn’t positive. “I thought you might need some encouragement.” He handed the drink over. With his other hand he grabbed mine. “I’m stealing your girl!” he shouted to Jude.

Ed swung me around in exaggerated swing dance moves, making it easy for me to dance to rhythm with him. He was an excellent dancer and he made it simple to keep up with him. After the first song ended, Will had me in his arms. At this point, it was too hard to dance with a drink, so I ended up downing most of it quickly. As Will spun me and moved me around the dance floor, I spied Jude dancing with Sarah. He winked at me and I swear, my heart almost stopped. Which made me giggle.

Next Jim claimed me and then Jenny dragged me to the center of the floor to dance with her and the girls. Another drink was thrust in my hand and went down just as easily as the first. I was passed around the family again, only occasionally catching glimpses of Jude dancing with his sister-in-laws.

Finally, I stumbled into him. He caught me deftly in his arms.

“Whoa,” he said, holding me up. “How are you doing?”

“Spectacular,” I slurred. “Your family rocks!”

He smirked. “They rock?” He chuckled. “I guess they do. You seem a bit drunk.”

I nodded. His hands were still on my upper arms. “Indeed, Lancelot. Ed keeps giving me brown drinks and they make me a better dancer.”

There’s that part of your brain when you’re drunk - not drunk enough to pass out but drunk enough that any thought you have just bubbles out of your mouth – that tells you to stop talking. It’s yelling that you’re making an ass of yourself. However, because you are drunk, the rest of your brain doesn’t listen. It tells that part to relax, that everything was cool.

My brain was telling that small part of my brain to shut up.

Jude just smiled at me. “I noticed you were dancing with everyone. Think you can dance one with me?”

I smiled at him, which I’m sure was a completely dopey, alcohol induced smile. “Yes!” Drunken enthusiasm – awesome.

Carefully, Jude grabbed my hands and pulled me out onto the dance floor and into his arms. Luckily for both of us, it was a slow song. He pulled me against his chest and I nestled my head on his shoulder.

“You smell good,” I told him, sniffing him. God, I hope I didn’t remember this in the morning.

“Yeah?” he asked, the smile evident in his voice even though my eyes were closed.

“Mmm-hmm. Like ocean and outside and man,” I answered definitively.

“Man? What does man smell like?”

“Like man,” I told him. Sometimes my brilliance astounded me. Someone shut me up.

“Oh.” He pulled me closer and embarrassingly, I nuzzled into his chest. “Tired, Rory?”

I yawned. “A little.”

“Okay.”

The song ended and he pulled me off the dance floor. I remember saying goodbye to everyone with promises to see them tomorrow. Jude and I rode up the elevator and I leaned heavily on him. Now that my intoxication level was slipping, my energy was too. I just wanted to crawl into bed. He unlocked the door and sent me into the bathroom.

Clumsily, I washed my face and brushed my teeth. My shoes had already been kicked off, but when it came to struggling out of my dress, I realized I couldn’t do it.

“Jude,” I whined, coming out of the bathroom and ramming right into his bare chest. “Oh,” I squeaked out. I found myself staring at his muscled pectorals. My hand, of its own accord, reached out and touched him.

Jude sucked in a breath. “Yes, Rory?” I looked up into his face. It was tense. Crap, was he pissed that I was drunk? I must have been staring for awhile, damn alcohol fogged brain, because he tried again. “Did you need something, Rory?”

Right. Don’t focus on his good lookingness – pretty sure that’s not a word. Focus on what needs to happen. Damn, what needs to happen? I moved and realized I was still constrained in my dress. Right, my dress. Note to self: no more drinking with Jude around.

“My dress. Can you unzip my dress?” I unceremoniously spun around, forcing Jude to catch me before I toppled over my own feet.

His hands held my upper arms until I was reasonably stable. “Sure.” Slowly, he unzipped my dress and then stepped quickly away. “Done in the bathroom?”

I nodded and then realized his back was to me. “Yup.”

When the bathroom door closed, I scrambled into the tank top and boxer shorts I had brought as pajamas. Thankfully, Sandy and Jim had been kind enough to let us dry everything. I flopped into bed and pulled the covers up around me. Several long minutes later, Jude emerged from the bathroom boxer shorts and a t-shirt. Quietly, he climbed into the other side of the bed and rolled to his side, facing away from me.

“’Night, Jude.”

“Goodnight.”

We lay in silence and I couldn’t help it. I felt myself inching closer to him. He was warm and I was drunk. A hot male in my bed was hard to resist after two brown drinks and god knows how much wine. With a frustrated sigh, Jude flipped onto his back. By this time, I had made it almost halfway across the vast expanse of the bed. When he looked over, I shut my eyes quickly.

However, the ruse was up when I giggled. It slipped out. I get giggly when I drink.

“What’s so funny, Rory?” he asked.

I shut my eyes tighter. “Nothing.”

“Fine.” His voice was tight.

I opened one eye and peeked at him. His jawline was tense and I could see him staring at the ceiling. “Are you mad at me?”

Jude’s head snapped around to stare at me. “Why would I be mad at you?”

I shrugged, causing the blankets to cover my face. I flailed my arms around until they were back in place. “You seem mad.”

He shook his head. “I’m not mad at you.”

My drunken mind made a decision and before that part with the good decision power kicked in, I spoke. Somewhere during the evening I had come to a decision and the alcohol was making me bold. “I think you’re hot.”

He chuckled, slightly uncomfortable. “Thanks.”

“So we should have sex.”

“W-what?” he sputtered and sat up on one elbow. Jude eyed me. “Why did you say that?”

I rolled my eyes at him, which made me a little dizzy. “In the spirit of having fun, and probably dying soon we should take any human or really old immortal contact,” I added for his benefit, “where we can get it and that is here.” I pointed to the bed, lest he be confused as to what I meant. “I think that you are hot, a fact most women in Aleut Harbor, actually probably all agreed with. And I’m attracted to you, so in the spirit of living life or whatever you live when you’re dead but immortally alive on earth for thousands of years, we should have sex.”

“You’re drunk,” Jude argued.

“Yes. Otherwise, I would be not saying this, but wishing I was. It will be fun! I promise!” Once I brought the idea out the open, I was really warming up to it. My alcohol induced enthusiasm knew no bounds.

“We can’t. It would be…I would be taking advantage of you,” he countered.

I screwed up my face in confusion. “But I suggested it.”

He sighed again. “But you’re drunk.”

“And you’re immortal!” I argued back.

“Yes, but that doesn’t encourage me to make bad decisions,” he told me.

“Don’t you want to?” By this point, I had moved so close to him that our faces were practically touching. We were both leaned up on an elbow, well, he was on one, I was barely staying up on an elbow and a bracing hand.

He smiled sadly. “That’s not the issue. We can’t.”

So I did the only reasonable thing. Instead of giving in to his logical arguments or fighting further, I kissed him. I literally launched myself at him. Or fell on top of him. Either way, my body ended up squashed against his. And I noticed midway through the kiss that he wasn’t pushing me away. Take that sensibility! Ha!

Then I stopped thinking because his lips were causing riotous feelings to happen all over my body. I wanted to touch more of his skin, so I all but ripped his t-shirt off. When my hands reached for the bottom of my tank, his held onto them firmly.

“Stop,” he whispered. His voice was strained and hoarse.

“Hmm?” There was no way I heard him correctly. I could feel how much he wanted me. And my body was responding equally enthusiastically to him.

“We need to stop.” Damn. I had heard him right.

“Why?” I’m pretty sure I whined. Hopefully, it was a dignified adult whine, but let’s be honest. It wasn’t.

Jude pulled me against his chest and we lay down. I could hear the erratic beating heart under my ear. “We can’t do this. You’re drunk.” His voice was returning to normal, but he swallowed thickly after he told me this. He pushed my head down onto his shoulder and held my hands pinned against his chest.

I sighed in frustration. “Fine.” My drunk powers of persuasion were not getting me anywhere. I yawned in spite of myself. Snuggling into his side despite being quite energetic only moments before, my eyelids started to droop. “Jude?”

“Hm?”

“Is it okay if I stay here?” I yawned and moved my body closer to his.

He cleared his throat and stilled my hips. “Sure.”

I kissed his neck innocently and felt his heart race again. Cool. “Night.”

His warm lips brushed my hair. “Night.”

God, cannons were exploding in my head. I peeled my eyes open and the sun coming through the window was like a laser burning my eyes. My mouth felt full of cotton and my stomach was queasy.

Carefully, I sat up and looked around. What did I do last night? I remembered drinking…what must have been a lot. There was dancing and I don’t remember much after that.

Something moved in the living room beyond my door. Then Jude’s head popped in. Quickly, I looked down to make sure I was dressed. Then I realized it didn’t matter. We had shared the be last night, so if I was naked he had already seen it. But I wasn’t, so that was a relief.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Giant, giant hangover,” I mumbled.

“Thought you might. I ordered breakfast and coffee whenever you feel up to it. And some aspirin.” Jude smiled gently at me.

I attempted to smile back but it hurt my face. “Thanks.” He turned to leave but I stopped him. “Hey, Jude?”

Jude came back and leaned against the door. He was already dressed in khaki shorts and a navy blue t-shirt, with his hair falling casually over his eyes. “Hmm?”

“Are we cool?” I was starting to worry something happened. I remember really wanting to have sex with him last night.

An eyebrow raised. “Cool?”

“I mean…did anything – the last thing I remember is dancing,” I half-heartedly explained.

Jude shook his head, his smile a little tense. “Nothing happened. We’re…cool.”

It was that smile. That tense I’m-going-to-pretend-everything-is-fine-when-its-not smile that reminded me. I threw myself at him last night. Shit. Literally, asked him to have sex with me and then threw myself at him. And I was completely and utterly rejected.

When I looked up, Jude was staring at me, concerned. “What? You’re upset.”

“Stupid ass protector vibe,” I muttered.

“What’s wrong?” he wanted to know.

“Nothing.” God, it was embarrassing enough to live through it once. I didn’t want to rehash my rejection. I wanted to crawl into the floor and die.

Jude crossed his arms and pinned his stare on me. “Something’s going on. You can’t hide it.”

“I said it’s nothing.” I was a littler harsher this time.

“I can’t protect you if I don’t know what’s going on.” His voice was low and condescending. If he wanted to be this way - fine.

“You rejected me,” I hissed at him. “I threw myself at you and you turned me down!” His eyes lowered uncomfortably. Good. “I just remembered. Now you know. Does that help you protect me better?”

He sighed. “I didn’t want to take advantage of you when you were drunk.”

To my horror, tears of humiliation filled my eyes. Never let them see you cry. I jumped out of the bed. “I need to take a shower.”

“Rory.” He said my name softly. I stopped but I didn’t turn around. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” I ground out and all but sprinted to the bathroom.

I wouldn’t let the tears fall until the sound of the shower drowned them out. God, I was stupid. He was a good looking guy who had been on earth for thousands of years, seeing millions of woman. What could he ever possibly want with me? We were stuck together because he promised to protect me. That was it.

I was awkward and uncomfortable in groups. I babbled when I was emotional or nervous, which was a helluva lot around Jude. There were thousands of girls who were much better looking that he could have his pick from. Why would I ever be stupid enough, even after drinking, to think he would want to sleep with me?

Because more than once we kissed and it was a lot more than friendly. That was why. Was he leading me on? Was he just toying with me because he was bored, but not enough to actually make him feel bad?

I had a few boyfriends since I left Aleut Harbor. None lasted to the point that I wanted to bring them home or tell them about my mom. I wasn’t the most worldly or experienced girl when it came to the opposite sex. Maybe that was it. He was just out of my league. God, he had thousands of years of experience. That was intimidating for girls who reacted normally to dating, let alone crazy me.

“Rory?” A voice called from the bathroom door.

“What?” I couldn’t help the anger that leeched into my voice.

Jude paused for a moment, like he wasn’t sure what to say. “Are you okay?”

“Fine, Jude. Stop worrying,” I ground out.

He sighed. “We’re leaving in forty-five minutes to go to Sandy and Jim’s.”

“Thanks,” I told him politely.

The rest of the morning was spent in a stony silence – at least, on my end. Jude tried to engage me but I wasn’t interested. Part of me knew I shouldn’t be mad at him for not being attracted to me. But the other, hurt part, kept reminding me that he was kissing me like he was interested.

Finally, we got to Sandy and Jim’s where I figured it would be a little easier to avoid him. Everyone I had met last night was there plus their nine grandchildren. They swarmed Jude the moment we stepped out of the rented car. He was smothered with hugs and stories, just like any other beloved uncle. I admonished myself for finding this attractive. Instead, I listened patiently as all of the kids told me their names.

While we sat to eat and talk, all the kids ran out into the big backyard to play. It was easy to help out Sandy or get Jenny to share stories about her brothers or Jude when they were younger – not that Jude has been young in thousands of years. This way I could toss Jude the occasional smile and not worry about his family finding out that I was hurt.

I got up to get another bottle of water when Sandy approached me. She put an arm around my shoulders and pulled me close.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she told me.

“Thanks. I – he,” I nodded in Jude’s direction, “is different when he’s here.”

She nodded. “We’ve accepted him for him and try not to ask too many questions. He’s just another one of my boys.” Sandy’s smile was contagious. “I’m glad he’s found you. I’ve never seen him look at another woman the way he looks at you.”

My smile turned a little self-deprecating. “He’s never brought another girl home.”

Sandy shook her head. “It’s the way he talks about you. His eyes light up when you’re around and the boy can’t keep his eyes off of you.”

Well, then Jude was a better actor than I thought. To Sandy, I just said, “Thanks.”

And that’s when the skies darkened. I looked up, expecting storm clouds. Instead the sky was filled with winged creatures. Oh god, they found us – all of them. Angels and demons were dotted across the sky. My panicked eyes met Jude’s. They mirrored my fear exactly. My temples prickled. I should have noticed that sooner.

I turned to Sandy. “Everyone needs to get in the house, in the basement if you have one. Jude and I need to go.” I nodded toward the sky. “They’re after us. I’m sorry.”

Already parents were scooping up and corralling children into the house. Jude must have passed the word quickly. I was pushing Sandy toward the house when an angel swooped down on me. The prickles in my temples amped up to throbbing and spread to the back of my head. I managed to avoid the angel’s grabby hands but then she started shooting lightning bolts.

Knowing they wouldn’t care if Sandy or any of the family became casualties, I threw myself on top of her. A bolt sliced across my right shoulder blade.

“Are you alright?” Sandy asked, as we stumbled up.

“Just get in the house and away from me. They want me,” I yelled, the two of us running toward the house. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jude doing the same thing.

A fireball whizzed by my head. I made the mistake of looking up. They were everywhere. It seemed like fifty winged beings hovered in the spot over the house. All of them angry and aiming at Jude and I. I wrapped myself around Sandy, trying to shield her body with mine.

“What are-?” she tried to get out.

“Stay down!” I yelled to her. A fireball blasted across my back. I screamed in pain but kept moving. A lightning bolt gashed through my leg and another fireball slammed into my hip. Pain flamed through my entire body and the throbbing in my head turned excruciating. It was making me dizzy and a little delusional. My only thought was to get Sandy to safety. This wasn’t her fault.

She cried out as something hit her arm.

“No!” I screamed. We were twenty feet from the house. I pushed her with all my strength and she fell onto the steps. “Get in the house!”

She nodded and complied. I lost sight of Jude and everyone else in the family but I didn’t care. I ran back into the yard and noticed the kids had left various balls lying around. Perfect.

“You want me?” I yelled up to the sky. “Then come get me!”

Where my sudden bravado and death wish came from I didn’t know. Actually, I was pissed. They could come after me and they could come after Jude. Whether or not we signed on for this job, it was ours. But they were involving the lives of innocent people.

I picked up a softball, pulled my arm back and threw it as hard as I could at a demon. It hit her square in the chest and she flew back a bit. Smiling, I picked up a football next. Luckily, my throwing arm hadn’t been damaged. I sent a silent prayer of thanks to Da and Boreas for all those years they made me play sports with them in the backyard.

A lightning bolt cut through my thigh as another one hit my ankle. I smiled. They were going to kill me, but I was going to go out fighting. Pulling my arm back, I threw a perfect spiral just like Da had taught me. Touchdown – right in an angel’s face. And boy, did he look pissed.

A fireball hit my back. Spinning I picked up a baseball and threw it hard. I don’t know if it was adrenaline or if I was just numb to the pain, but my body wasn’t hurting. It was getting weakened, but I was going to try and take out some of these fuckers if it was the last thing I did.

With all my strength I picked up another softball and launched it at an angel. Right in the head! Something hit my arm – fireball or lightning bolt, it was all the same at this point. Unfortunately, it was my throwing arm. I ignored the pain and looked for another ball.

Shit. I was out. There were still so many beings in the sky. So many things that wanted me dead. I scrambled, dodging bolts and fireballs. And then I saw it. One of Sandy’s gardens had baseball-sized rocks to outline it. Perfect.

Like a rabbit, I skittered and hopped around obstacles to get to the garden. I picked up rocks with abandon and started hurling them towards the sky. The pleasant thunk of a hit target almost made the pain bearable. More lightning bolts and fireballs rained down on me.

My vision started getting dizzy and going black.

Here it comes, I thought. Death. I was pretty sure at Angel and Demon Court neither side was going to want me. I had just thrown rocks at everyone. That thought had a smile spreading across my lips as my body swayed.

My last thought before I completely blacked out was a prayer that all of Sandy and Jim’s family was okay.