Scars - Book 1 : Saints & Sinners Series

Rowan

“You’re kidding me, right,” Luke, my best friend and the only constant in my life for over 1800 years, said. “Hunting for Dummies rule number one is always turn off your cell phone when hunting vampires, Rowan.”

“It’s Becca,” I said, and watched as he blinked and his blue-green eyes swirled milky white. “It’ll only take a second.”

“Well, you better answer then because the horde is closing in, and Jamie-O looks a bit outnumbered at the moment.

I glanced over to where Jamie was surrounded by three vampires, all closing in on him from different directions. “Can you deal with that, Luke?” I said as the phone rang again.

“Whatever, Rowan.” With a wave of his hand, the vampires were thrown backward through the air. “I wanted to watch Lost tonight, but you said we were gonna go out to have a good time – I thought maybe you meant a bar or the movies,” he waved his hand again scattering another group of vampires, “but this is not fun, Rowan.”

As the Demon of Lust, son of Lucifer and Lilith, Luke could have been my greatest enemy as no one could resist him. Everything about him exuded sexuality. His rich sable hair cut shorter at the sides and left scruffy at the top begged for someone to run their fingers through it. He never shaved but his 5 o’clock shadow remained perfect. The beautiful blue-green shade of his eyes drew everyone in, and then there was the rest of him. Every muscle and curve of his body left everyone staring at him in awe. Luckily, when we first met all those long years ago, he decided we were going to be the best of friends, and never used his immense power against me or I would’ve been lost. Of course it came at a great price to him, hunted by every demon for turning against his own kind for me, and sometimes I feared that he would realize I wasn’t worth the pain he suffered on my behalf.

“Answer that damn phone before I throw it!” he snapped irritably, and catching hold of the vampire’s gaze, he drew him in to his thrall. I released my hold on the vamp’s throat, and he immediately went to Luke, his lips coming down hard on Luke’s. No one could resist him – man, woman, vampire, or demon, all succumbed to his undeniable allure.

He looked to me, holding my gaze, and I grabbed hold of both sides of the vampire’s head, and twisted hard, bone tearing through skin, splattering blood on my face and Luke’s. The vampire dropped to the ground in a heap, his head dangling by sinew. Wiping his blood on my shirt, I pulled out the phone and answered.

“Hey there, sunshine, what’s up?” I said, rubbing the blood off my face.

“I got a job, Rowan,” Becca said excitedly, and I could picture her mismatched blue and hazel eyes lighting up at the idea of doing menial labor.

“No, not gonna happen,” I replied, glaring at Luke as he repeatedly pressed his thumb and fingers together imitating Becca talking.

“I’m taking the job,” she insisted as stubborn as ever.

“Absolutely not,” I said, shaking my head as I gesture to Luke to help Jamie fend off the other vampires, but he refused to budge from his spot. “Look, if you’re bored I’ll send Jamie or JD to spend a few weeks with you,” I added, sidestepping a vampire charging at me. Luke caught hold of him, and snapped his neck, dropping him on top of the other vampire. “How about this, I’ll free up time within the few weeks and we’ll go to Paris – you love Paris.”

“I start Monday,” she said, clearly not understanding that I never wanted her to have to work.

“So, Paris is out of the question then.” I raked a hand through my shoulder length dark verging on black hair, my fingers getting tangled in the braid I always wore on one side to remind me of Moring Flower, one of my greatest loves. “I guess congratulations are in order. Where are you going to be working – an art gallery?”

“No, it’s a coffee shop called Perk Me Up. I was walking by and saw a sign in the window.”

“A coffee shop,” I repeated, dragging a hand down my face while making a mental note to have Lachlan, our resident computer genius, do thorough background checks on everyone who worked there. “That’s great, Becs – not as great as a trip to Paris and Italy with me, but if that’s what you want I’m happy for you.” Glancing up I noticed Jamie on the ground with a vampire straddling him. I looked to Luke to help him, but saw him fighting off another vampire, and cursed under my breath. “Becs, I gotta let you go. Jamie’s having an issue that I need to help him with.”

“Okay, I’ll call you later so I can tell you all about it – I’m so excited, Rowan.”

“I might not be able to answer the phone later so call me in the morning,” I said, spying Lady Red, another old love of mine who I had turned and then she betrayed me. I didn’t always make the smartest decisions especially when hurt overrode reason, and cursing her to live as long as I did more than likely wasn’t the best way to get even with her. “The problem Jamie’s dealing with could take longer than I expected – I gotta go.”

I hung up quickly, my phone falling from my hand as I raced toward the vampire pinning Jamie to the ground, lowering its head to sink its fangs into Jamie’s throat. Yanking the vampire away from him, I threw it up against the wall, and sunk my fangs into its throat and tore at his flesh. Blood gushed down my throat as blood spilled out of the vampire’s mouth. Draining him quickly, I let him go and he slid to the ground. Pulling out my knife that had been soaked in holy water blessed by Archangel Michael, I stabbed him through the heart. His screams echoed through alleyway, his body burning to ash.

Jamie, on his feet again, raced after a fleeing vampire, and as I looked around for Lady Red, she was gone. My gaze strayed to Luke, noticed the deep gash above his right eye, leaking blood down his face, and my anger ignited. In a burst of speed, I flew past Jamie, caught hold of the vampire, knocking us both to the ground. I scrambled on top of him, and plunged the knife into his chest over and over again.

Jamie’s hand on my shoulder, calmed my rage, and I slowly got to my feet to look him over for injuries. “You okay, Jamie?” I asked, noticing several bruises blossoming on his face.

“Yeah, I’m good,” he said, scrubbing a hand down his face. His left eye was already swelling shut, but otherwise he looked to be no worse for wear. He bobbed his head toward the vampire’s decaying body. “What the Hell was that, Rowan? I mean stab him sure, but did you need to make a pin cushion out of him?”

“Just gather the bodies to burn,” I muttered, taking a look around at the vampires who hadn’t burned away to ash, and the two humans we’d failed to save. “And find out who those two were so we can help out their families somehow.”

By my count we’d only lessened Red’s horde by seventeen vampires, leaving at least twenty-five to thirty more to kill. Not nearly enough gone, but hopefully Lachlan and Hunter scouted out their lair while we kept Red occupied. If not, I’d have to go after Lady Red on my own as she wouldn’t show herself again while Luke was around.

Bone weary, I trudged back to Luke, and noticed that the gash on his forehead had already healed. “You ready to go home, Luke?”

“I wanna go out, Rowan.” He handed me my cell phone back then folded his arms across his chest. “I’m kinda in the mood for a threesome possibly a foursome – I dunno. Either way, you are going out with me. You haven’t fallen in love with any woman in well over two years which is close to a record for you.”

“What’s the point, Luke?” I asked, looking at the dead woman on the ground alongside what must’ve been her boyfriend. “For me, falling in love is like a death sentence for whatever woman is misfortunate enough to catch my eye.”

“Ahhh . . . so that’s what the whole wearing all black, angst filled,” He waved a hand over me, “I’m a wreck, love me anyways look is all about.”

“I don’t look angst filled,” I muttered, pushing my hand through my hair. “I’m just not interested in trying anymore.”

“Then what about meaningless sex, Rowan?” He lifted a brow in amusement. “I have it on good authority from the Demon of Lust himself, that meaningless sex with as many people as possible is always the way to go.”

“I’m not like you, Luke. I want sex to mean something.”

“You sure you’re not a girl, Rowan?” he chuckled. “When I’m with a girl or guy or for that matter a demon, I’m in the moment enjoying the lust I create in my prey – I mean whoever I’m with.” He grinned, and tugged on my braid. “How about this, I find you some real hot girl of your choosing, and you just enjoy her without any commitment?”

“I just wanna go home, and –“

“And what, Rowan?” he cut me off. “It’s not like you sleep or eat – or relax so what’s the point of going home?”

“I have to check up on the place where Becca is going to work, make sure it’s safe.”

“Oh, this is about Becca.” He sighed and shook his head. “Question, Rowan. Am I not good enough to meet your precious Becca? From my understanding everyone in the Scooby gang knows Becca, yet you hide me like I’m some huge embarrassment to you.”

“No, it’s just that I know you, Luke – within a matter of a few minutes you’ll have her wanting you in bed, and I can’t let that happen.”

“You think I can’t control myself?”

“Yeah, I know you can, but even if you’re not trying people still want to have you.” I’d seen too many women and men go out of their minds, locked up in asylums, crazy because of him to risk Becca’s safety. “I wish things were different, but I can’t let you anywhere near her.”

“Whatever, Rowan.” A frown replacing his usual alluring smile, he vanished.

Without him to shield us from prying eyes, I hurried over to help Jamie. It took the better part of an hour to gather all the remains and pile them into a dumpster in the alleyway to set ablaze. It wasn’t a perfect plan, the smell alone near gagged me, Jamie retching in the corner of the alleyway, but a far better plan than to transport multiple dead vamps in Jamie’s black Camaro. Within a matter of fifteen minutes the sound of sirens blaring gave us our cue to hightail it out of there.

“What happened to Luke?” Jamie asked, peeling out of his parking spot. “Thought he mentioned going out to a bar.”

“Becca got a job,” I said to change the subject, his eyes widening as he glanced at me before returning his sights to the road.

“Why’d she do that, Rowan? Doesn’t she know how much work that’s gonna cause us?”

“She’s lonely, Jamie-O.” I pulled down the visor and looking in the mirror, I rubbed away the blood staining my forehead. “We both knew this was going to happen eventually. What with everyone so busy traveling around the country, she doesn’t have anyone to spend time with.”

“An art gallery?”

“No, some stupidly named coffee shop called Perk Me Up.” I looked over to him, and groaned. “You know how much I pay for her to go to college to get an art degree all so she can get a job serving coffee to morons.”

“So you want Lachlan to do a full background check on everyone working there?” He briefly looked to me again, waited for me to nod, and looked back to the road. “I could send Matty to keep an eye on her for a while.”

“No, she’ll get mad and then I’ll get a call telling me not to call until she’s over it.”

“Oh, I hate those calls.” He looked to me and rolled his eyes. “I mean, who does that? Sure I’m pissed at you like every other day, but I’d never call to say not to call.”

“That’s because I’d tell you to suck it, put your big boy pants on, and get out and kill something.” With a sigh, I tilted my head to look out the window, running my fingers along the glass. “Maybe it is time she started really living, Jamie. We can’t keep sheltering her forever.”

“Why not? She’s had a rough go of it most of her life, and what with Jax . . . I just don’t want to see her heart broken again.”

“How is Jax doing?” I asked, wondering if I had made a huge mistake making him a member of the Brethren knowing his brother Nick was possessed by Lucifer. “Last I heard he broke Matty’s crossbow – has he gotten any better at hunting?”

“That depends on your definition of better – is he better than a blind monkey? Sure. Is he someone I’d want having my back, not a chance.”

Rubbing at my temples to somewhat alleviate the pain of the pounding heartbeats and the whispering reapers I turned my thoughts back to Becca. “If she ever finds out about Jax being alive, and we kept it from her all this time – it was a bad idea.”

“What choice did we have, Rowan?”

“None, but that doesn’t make it any easier to continually lie to her.” Not that it mattered how bad I felt about lying to her, it had to be done. “If you want you can drop me off at the mansion, and head out to a bar with Luke.”

“Oh, hell no!” Jamie shook his head. “The last time I did that, he thought it would be fun to treat me to a full on lust fest. I had five girls pawing all over me – and two guys, Rowan.”

“He likes you, Jamie,” I chuckled, imagining Jamie trying to fend off so many lusty advances. “He’s just – well, he’s Luke.”

“Yeah, that’s what you always say,” he muttered, pulling into the circular driveway of my mansion, and stopped the car, but left the engine running. “I’m gonna go and see about getting Lachlan to start those background checks. Figure it’ll take half the night to convince him as you know how he feels about wasting resources on anything unrelated to hunting.”

“That’s why I leave you in charge of dealing with him.” Getting out of the car, I leaned down and looked at him. “You did good tonight, Jamie.”

“I was nearly some vamp’s dinner, Rowan – I know I screwed up.”

“But you killed three before that happened so in my book that’s a win in your column.”

“Yeah, yeah . . . close the door so I can get out of here.”

I shut the door and watched him drive away. I pressed my eyelids closed and honed in on Luke’s heartbeat coming from inside the house. Listening to the steady thrum of every beat, the comforting sound of it quieted all the others. Turning on my heel, I went inside to find him lounging on the couch watching television. Luke was a television junkie. He could stay up for days on end, barely moving from his spot, marathon watching any series that caught his interest.

He lifted his head off the pillow he’d brought down from his bedroom, and looked around at me. “Go get washed up and then come down and watch Wizard of Oz with me.”

“You know I hate watching television, Luke,” I grumbled, scrubbing a hand down my face as I recalled how I promised I’d watch his favorite movie with him. “I’ll be down in a half hour.”

“I’ll make popcorn.” He grinned up at me. “It’ll be great, Rowan, you’ll see. Nothing like a little mindless entertainment to get your mind off everything for a while.”

“Yeah, I can hardly wait,” I muttered, heading up the stairs. Luke’s bedroom door was slightly opened, and hearing the thrum of heartbeats coming from inside, I peered inside to find two girls sprawled out naked on his bed. “Luke!” I shouted down to him. “Unless you get these girls out of my house, I’m not watching anything.”

Within a blink, he appeared before me. A slow smile lit up his face. “Twins, Rowan.” He lifted two fingers. “How could I help myself when everyone at the bar was hot for them?” Then he pointed at himself. “Well that is until I made my presence known.”

Luke couldn’t see people through his own eyes. Only when others looked at them, and had any sort of thought about them did they become clearer to him. Yet, when he met me for the first time, he truly saw me with his own eyes. He believed me to be so perfect in my unending guilt that it gave him the power to see me without the aid of others, and it left him completely in awe. From what I gathered that was when he decided we were going to be the best of friends.

“That’s great, Luke. Have them gone by the time I get out of the shower.”

I took an extra long shower, working out the tension in my shoulders. My mind wandered as the spray of water spilled down over my face, and I thought of running through the rain with Morning Flower, and how she had braided my hair like the other men from her tribe. She loved thunderstorms, and we often made love as lightening splayed across the sky above us. I missed her with every breath I took – I missed them all.

Turning off the shower, I got out and wrapped a towel around my waist. In no hurry to watch a movie with Luke, I fished my phone out of the pocket of my pants, and called Becca back, belatedly noticing the late hour. Still she answered by the second ring.

“Hey there, sunshine,” I said, and heard her yawn. “If you were sleeping I can call you back in the morning.”

“No, I’m awake,” she insisted, always worried that she might never hear from me again.

“So tell me about this new job of yours.”

“It’s no big deal. I’ll just be making coffee and serving desserts.”

“You’ll be great at it, Becs,” I said encouragingly, although how hard could it be to make coffee and serve desserts. But she’d have to deal with customers, and I couldn’t imagine not hitting someone if they complained about coffee. “You’re always good with people – look how you’ve wrapped me around your little finger. Not to mention Jamie-O and the others . . .well, not Lachlan, but he doesn’t like anyone.”

She giggled into the phone. “When are you coming to see me, Rowan?” she asked, and I pictured her biting at her lower lip. “It’s been a long time since I saw you.”

“I don’t know. I’ve been real busy hunting lately.” I sighed. In truth it got harder and harder trying to put on my best smile for her, and to act like her invincible hero. Not when every part of me ached for some sort of ending to it all. Not when I recalled how I’d hurt her in my grief over the loss of my last girlfriend. “How about if I try to come up and visit you in a few weeks?”

“I’d really like that,” she said, and I could hear the doubt in her tone. “We could go to the park, and I could show you where I work.”

“Sounds good.” Looking up, I noticed Luke standing in the doorway with his arms folded across his chest. “Becs, I’ve gotta get going. A problem just came up with Hunter.” Luke narrowed his blue-green eyes on me. “He thought he was hunting a Wendigo, but turns out it’s a Bearwalker. Not sure how he messed that up.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, sounding disappointed, and guilt surge through me for lying to her. “I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you, Rowan.”

“I’ll see you soon, darlin’.”

I hung up and looked to Luke, waiting for him to comment on me calling him Hunter. Instead he said, “Get dressed, Rowan, before you tempt the Demon of Lust to forget you’re off limits.” His gaze traveled over my body, and I heard his heartbeat quicken. “You’ve got five minutes to get downstairs or I’m coming up after you.”

“How do you think it would look if any of our enemies saw us sitting home on a Friday night watching The Wizard of Oz, Luke? That’ll do nothing to inspire fear in them.”

“We’re rule breakers – nothing we do surprises our enemies anymore.” His gaze ticked from my eyes to the towel I wore. “Four minutes. Get moving.” He turned on his heel and left me to get dressed, calling back over his shoulder, “You’re gonna love the Wicked Witch of the West – best badass movie villain ever!”