I know how this night ends. And that is with the death of the man who killed their youngest brother.
Jaxon has only ever killed one person in his whole life. Does that number go up to two tonight?
Is that what he wants?
There's a faraway look in his eyes. I can see the internal debate going on inside of him.
In the end, he rolls his hands into fists. I watch darkness overtake the light in his eyes. I see his jaw tighten.
His eyes shift over to me. "Wait here, Serena," he says as he turns and walks to the closet. He arms himself, just like the rest of his family. "I'll be back later."
The others file to the door and stalk out of here like they're going to war.
I stand there, stunned. Too much is happening, it's too fast. There are too many implications that will follow.
So, I'm frozen when Jaxon crosses back over to me and presses a kiss to my forehead. And then he's gone, following after the rest of the Gray family.
It's suddenly very quiet in the penthouse. Where before, there was so much tension in the air it was charged, waiting for everything to explode, now, it's just me. It's silent. I'm alone with my shock.
Jaxon went with them.
I always said that he was neither black nor white.
He is the gatekeeper. He is an ultralight.
Jaxon is a good man. But tonight, he might be the one to end the life of his brother’s killer.
As I close the door that they all left open, I know that I'm not going to judge him for this.
I pull my phone out and make the call.
“Jaxon has to go out with his family,” I say when Sybil answers. “It’s the whole crew, so keep your heads down. But tail them, make sure he stays safe.”
“Got it,” she says simply, and hangs up.
Chapter Fourteen
I’m antsy all day. I counter it by getting lunch in the casino. Then I return to the penthouse. Finally, I go to Jaxon’s room to wait.
I paid attention both times he’d entered the code, so now I have access to either space.
Dinnertime comes, and none of the Grays have returned. I order room service, and they don’t even ask what room. Twenty minutes later, a beautiful meal is left at my door.
I eat alone.
Eight o’clock rolls around, and they’re still not back.
I take a shower.
I realize now that I didn’t pack any clothes to bring with us on this excursion. I wander into Jaxon’s closet and find a black t-shirt of his and pull it on.
This isn’t one of those cases where it floods my body. Jaxon is no three-hundred-pound man. It’s loose on my form, but it only covers half of my butt.
I don’t care that half of my black underwear is visible. Heck, I’m alone right now.
With damp hair, I crawl into Jaxon’s bed, and audibly sigh.
Oh, wow. Maybe it’s worth being a crime lord if the job comes with a bed like this. Seriously, his bed is amazing.
I roll over and reach for my phone. I log into our system and pull up the ultralight map.
The two resident ultralights are at the far south end of the Strip. The Kindred are still in Sacramento, so that’s a relief.
I find Jaxon. He’s roughly in the area where AJ got shot. I can’t remember the location exactly, but it’s not a good part of Vegas.
Why is this taking so long?
With an impatient sigh, I set my phone down and pull the covers up over me.
The bed smells like Jaxon. Even though he hasn’t slept in it since we met, it smells like him. A smile pulls at my lips as I roll over, the smell intensifying as I press my cheek into his pillow.
And it calms me. My breathing slows. My anxiety ebbs a bit. I think about our nights at the club.
And finally, I slip into the dark.
* * *
The bed jostles, ripping me from sleep. My hand darts under my pillow, my fingers wrapping around a gun I grabbed from Jaxon’s bathroom yesterday. In one quick movement, I whip around, and press the barrel beneath a sharp jaw line.
“Shit, Serena, it’s just me,” Jaxon hisses in the dark.
I blink twice, clearing the sleep from my eyes. The adrenaline burning through my blood rages hot and strong.
I take a breath and withdraw the gun.
Jaxon kneels on the bed wearing nothing but a pair of boxers. His hair is wet, and he looks exhausted. I never heard the door, nor did I hear the shower.
“Everything go okay?” I ask as I tuck the gun back under my pillow.
Jaxon’s lips thin, but he nods.
I wait for him to say more about it. I’m dying to know details. Where they tracked him down to. Why it took so long. How involved was Jaxon? Who did the killing?
I can’t imagine it ended any other way than a death, considering this is the Gray family, and AJ is dead.
But he doesn’t offer any more details.
Maybe I don’t really want to know. Maybe that’s better.
“One of your siblings is possessed too, aren’t they?” I ask, moving on to the next topic.
Jaxon crawls up into the bed fully and collapses back onto a pillow. “Aaron,” he says as he rests an arm above his head.
That makes sense, I guess. Jaxon was trying to track him down the night we met, it’s what actually ended our first night together. Jaxon said he had “a bad habit of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, if you know what I mean.”
“He hasn’t embraced it, though,” Jaxon says, and he sounds relieved.
“Did…did you exorcise him?” I ask. What I want to add is: is that why this took so long tonight?
Jaxon shakes his head. “I couldn’t. The whole family was together all night. But I asked Aaron to grab breakfast with me in the morning. Surprisingly, he agreed to it. I’ll do it then.”
I roll over, propping myself above him on one elbow. I trace one finger down the middle of his chest. “You’re exceptional, you know,” I say quietly in the dark. “Not just because you’re the gatekeeper. I wouldn’t be able to fight the urge with two possessed around me. None of us darklings could, and we’ve been around for a really long time.”
I lay my hand flat over his chest, feeling the toned muscle and the heat of his body. Slowly, I let it rise, over the side of his neck. “I know you were frustrated with yourself because it took you a little longer to get your human form back. But Jaxon,” I whisper as my eyes rise to meet his and my hand slides up the back of his head to take hold of his hair. “You are stronger than any of us.”
He studies my face, and I know that he cannot see me as well as I can see him in the dark. I can make out every contour of his nose, his cheekbones. I can pick out every eyebrow hair and eyelash.
He’s so damn beautiful.
It takes my breath away.
“I don’t know that I feel all that strong, Serena,” he whispers in the dark. “Not after today. Not after nearly burning this place down. Not after hunting a man down.”
I shift my weight, throwing one leg over his body until I’m straddling him. I lean down, tracing my nose up between his pectorals and then sliding to one side. My lips brush over his neck. “You are, Jaxon. You’re strong and brave and loyal and powerful. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted.”
He tips his head back, giving me unlimited access to his neck. A sigh escapes over his lips. His hands come to my hips, gripping me tight.