Page 56 of Flirting with Death

Brook stood in Lumi's embrace, her arms crossed protectively over her stomach. She looked as helpless as I felt.

My throat felt like razors dragged down it as I swallowed hard and tried not to pass out. I wasn’t weak, but seeing Samantha like this was too much. The others were so strong, and I crumbled as she sucked in a harsh breath and screamed in pain.

"Heal her," I ordered as I turned on the God. I knew he could, he'd healed Lex and Samantha before. I was there for one and saw the after-effects of the other.

His perfectly tailored shirt wrinkled beneath my harsh grip. I didn't even remember closing the distance between us.

"I can't. I'm bound!" he shouted into my face. Then he broke like a bowstring snapping. "My father took the powers I had at the request of Artemis. He said it would teach me not to interfere. It makes little sense. What is the purpose of this if they need us alive and together?"

"Probably something to strengthen us. Since my sister has already determined that we won't die, all this is going to do is force us into the fire, so that we might flirt with death instead. And for the record, your father meddles more than my own mother," Lex grumbled, setting the needle back into the box he pulled it from. Then he lifted his hand over her chest and his shadow snake flowed from his arm, sinking into her skin like a tattoo. "It will keep her safe as she heals."

As if his words held magic, her thrashing movements settled. It allowed me to take a breath, filling my lungs with the scent of her blood. If we lost her, I'd go crazy. Hadn't I already proved that once?

"She will be okay, Rai. My sister is strong," Ty said, his hand landing on my shoulder as he closed the distance. I nodded because I didn't have words. I was hearing everything they were saying, but it wasn't sinking in. If I had the power, I would destroy the Gods and Goddesses that were using us like toys.

"We should move her to the apartment to rest," Lex said after he had stashed the kit back beneath the bar. How many injuries had he treated on top of the smooth cherry surface? Why would he even have a medical kit right there? So many questions that didn't matter but helped distract me from the fact that Bellamy quickly headed for the elevator with our girl, as if she weighed nothing, to take them to Lex's space.

Brook stepped up next to me, her hand landing on my arm. "She will be okay. Sam's strong and apparently heals at a super fast rate compared to normal humans. You can't forget that fact."

I nodded. It was all I could do, because I still didn't have my voice. Not with my throat clenched tight around the ball of emotion that felt like it would force its way from my eyes if I even opened my mouth.

We took up the rear as everyone piled into the small space. All I could smell was her blood, and a puff of smoky air flowed from my nostrils as I forced the offending scent from my lungs, burning any lingering smell. I held my breath until the doors slid open, revealing Lex's welcoming apartment. The open floor plan appealed to the dragon inside me. The bathroom was the only space that wasn't connected. Tall windows lined the walls, letting in all the coming warmth of the day. The sun cut a line directly across the bed Bellamy was laying Sam on.

I moved to a space against the wall to keep everyone in my sights. It was a habit that was hard to break, finding a space with no one at your back, then any danger would come from the front.

As he straightened and turned to the rest of us, it was as if some sort of pressure released, and I knew we were all in the same boat. We were all suffering the same emotions and fear. They were just better at concealing it. I hadn't felt close to them before now. Sure, I understood Sammy had feelings for each of them, and if they made her happy, then they could stay, but on a personal level, they were at arm's length, and I hadn't given my full trust.

Now, it was like those walls came crashing down between us. As if this shared pain connected us in a way we could never ignore again. I could see the bigger picture. These guys, the demon, God, and demi-god, they were family in the same way Ty and Sammy had been for years.

"I can call my brother. I think his twin can heal people," Bellamy said. He pulled out his cell, swiping it open and bringing it to his ear. You could hear a pin drop as we waited with bated breath for the call to go through.

"Twice in a month." His brother's distorted voice came through the line. With my hearing, it was almost like he had it on speakerphone. "What trouble have you found now?"

"It found me this time. I need your brother's help to heal Samantha," he replied.

"He is technically your brother, too. We all share the same dad. You should give him a chance."

"Is it a condition of getting his help?"

A pause and a sigh. "No, where are you?"

I tuned out the rest of the conversation, knowing that help would be here soon, even if the drugs Lex gave her didn't work.

"I'm sorry," Alastor said, breaking my inner thoughts and pulling my attention to him as he leaned against the wall next to me. "If I had told everyone what my dad did when I got back, maybe—"

"Everything would have turned out the same," I said, cutting off whatever blame he was planning on placing on his shoulders. "Your dad is a dick, but that isn't your fault. My emotions took over earlier. I shouldn't have grabbed you. I know you would be the first in line to heal her if you could."

The corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile, and he nodded slightly. "He didn't tell me anything."

"I figured as much." I shrugged. "When all of this is over, you might be King of the Underworld, because murdering your father will be at the top of my list."

He nodded again and shifted his gaze to Bellamy. A different sorrow was on his face when he watched the demon. I would have had to be blind not to notice it before, but now it made me curious what the cause was.

"What's with you and the others?" I asked, lowering my voice for his ears only.

He brought his attention back to me and lifted his brow and sighed. "My father has always been the way he is. It never occurred to him to say, hey, these two will be in your life in a really important way. Your relationships with them will shape your future. Instead, he made sure we had falling outs. And maybe he was right in doing that. Lex wouldn't have come here to open this club, and Bellamy wouldn't have run away to the mortal world."

"That is fucked up."

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