Death Wish . Amy Blankenship

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СКАЧАТЬ smiled deviously knowing exactly what Zachary had been in the middle of. He knew Storm’s sense of humor well enough to know that the way the Time Walker saw it… timing was everything.

      He took his sunglasses off and slid them into his pocket knowing that for a moment he would have to look Lacey directly in the eyes while using the Phoenix’s power.

      Chapter 4

      Lacey finished getting dressed, avoiding the mirror as much as possible as she silently ranted to herself. Why the hell did that guy insist on coming to her rescue… she was just fine thank you very much. Sure, she’d had her moments of being scared out of her wits but nothing she couldn’t handle. Her irritation drained out of her knowing now that the demons had found her she wouldn’t be alive long enough to get even with him.

      She closed the trunk and shoved it in the corner before skirting the wall so she could stay out of the mirror’s reflection on her way toward the door.

      Ren’s smile became downright wicked when the doorknob began to turn and he teleported directly in front of the bathroom door. He didn’t let her take more than one step before quickly reaching out and palming her forehead, simultaneously cradling the back of her head with his other hand to keep her still.

      Tilting her head up, he leaned forward and locked his mercury gaze with hers.

      Lacey parted her lips to yell at him but her voice suddenly failed her when she saw dark flames erupt in his beautiful silver eyes. In an instant, detailed flashes of the past year began to race through her mind so fast that she could hardly keep up with them. The flood of emotions that followed the visions overwhelmed her.

      Scared of what was happening, she tried to pull out of Ren’s tight hold, but with her mind going into overload her body went numb and she couldn’t move.

      Ren held Lacey still as a multitude of memories flooded his mind letting him see everything and even experience some of the emotions that went along with them. It was pure stubbornness that kept him from falling to his knees from the impact. He took it all in, from the moment she had met Vincent up until the vision of the creature reaching through the bathroom mirror for her.

      He breathed heavily through his nose seeing the intimate moments between Vincent and her and felt a near blinding jealousy tinged with hatred for the man that had gotten her in this dangerous situation. How dare he touch her so gently after showing such disregard for her life?

      Having seen enough, Ren released her with a harsh growl which was immediately followed by a loud crack that echoed in the quiet room. His head snapped to the side when her palm struck the side of his face and he knew he deserved that, but there was no way in hell he would ever apologize for the invasion.

      “How dare you do that to me you jerk,” Lacey quietly raged. Seeing the dark flames slowly vanish from his silver eyes, she knew without a doubt that he’d watched the memories along with her. “Who the hell do you think you are invading my private thoughts like that?”

      “Yeah, that’s the reaction I normally get too,” Zachary managed with a wide smirk on his face.

      Lacey peeked around Ren to see who’d spoken but only caught a fleeting glimpse of two other men as they vanished into thin air.

      “Why?” Lacey demanded, completely dismissing the fact that she’d just seen someone teleport out of there like they’d been beamed up to the mother ship. That didn’t rattle her half as much as the fact that the man in front of her had just stolen all of her secrets. “And you have the nerve to call me a thief?”

      Ren looked down at her with a stoic expression, “You wouldn’t have told me anything otherwise, and if you remember correctly… I was nice enough to ask several times. You left me no choice but to call on a very powerful friend to help me get the answers I needed. It’s a good thing I did too, because you’re in a hell of a lot of trouble.”

      “The trouble is mine to deal with, not yours,” Lacey countered.

      Ren leaned closer to her and smirked when she backed up against the door frame. “For your information, not everyone around here is a bad guy and might even be able to help you out of this mess your in.” He raised a dark eyebrow before slipping his sunglasses back on.

      ”I’m sorry if I’m a little skittish about trusting people right now… especially another demon,” Lacey said wishing he would take the sunglasses back off. “Surely you can understand why.”

      “I’ll let you in on one of my secrets if it will make you feel better,” Ren offered quietly. “I am human, but I have the ability to… copy… take on the traits of other paranormals as long as they’re inside my succubus range.”

      Lacey frowned, “Succubus? I thought a succubus was female… in fact I know they’re female. Wouldn’t that make you an incubus?”

      Ren shook his head, “I’m not a real succubus, that’s just what we’ve always called it considering I seem to suck any power out of thin air when around anyone that has enough power for me to do so. And it’s not by choice either… it happens whether I want it to or not. If I’m around more than one paranormal, then I get more than one type of power.”

      “So you are a thief,” Lacey pointed out with a satisfied smile.

      Ren's smile matched hers as he quickly corrected her assumption, “I can’t take their power away from them but I can match them equally, which comes in very handy when I find myself fighting one.”

      “If you don’t know what you really are, then how do you know that you’re not a demon or at least a half breed?” she asked curious now.

      “Because demon blood is black,” Ren said remembering the way Vincent had earned her trust. He glanced down at the sharp looking letter opener on Gypsy's computer desk. Picking it up, he sliced it across his palm and let her see the crimson color that had time to bead up on the wound seconds before it began to heal.

      Lacey's stomach muscles clenched when he hissed softly from the self-inflicted wound. She quickly looked up at his face feeling guilt wash over her for causing him to do it just to prove to her that he wasn’t lying. In a way, he reminded her of Vincent… human yet not.

      “As you can see… I bleed just fine and it’s red.” Ren tossed the opener back on the desk. “I am completely human as long as there are only humans nearby… but as it just so happens, there is a demon war going on here in L.A. This place is teeming with demons and other paranormals at the moment. I even know of a couple Gods that are hanging around. My powers tend to change as they all move in and out of my range.”

      “Why are you telling me this?” Lacey asked knowing that was something he should always keep secret… she would have.

      “Think of it as a penance for forcing the truth from you by snatching it out of your memories. I’m sorry it came to that,” Ren said honestly. “I have my moments of being a right bastard but know this… I will do my best to protect you if you let me. That means the next time something comes at you from a mirror, you don’t lie about it… you scream for me.”

      Lacey blinked when he said ‘scream for me’ and her mind hit to gutter. “You can’t read my thoughts right now can you?” she quickly asked feeling heat rush up into her cheeks.

      Ren frowned and tried to hear what she was thinking but all he was getting was silence…. then it dawned СКАЧАТЬ