Possession is Nine Tenths - Ardeur Chapter 9

** Continuation of November 6th, 2010 post. Please click here for Chapter 8.

Nine

The next few days following my arrival at Mount Angel were what most people would call uneventful but, to me, they were sheer and utter bliss. No need to watch my back, wonder where my next meal was coming from or cringe when I stepped in the shower. Rae had explained the next morning, over a breakfast of the fluffiest pancakes ever, that our portion of the Abbey was shielded from the rest of the world and that unless you had something supernatural about you; you weren't going to find it. I'd asked about the other residents and received nothing more than the instruction to be patient and that I'd meet them when it was time.

I was in the kitchen devouring a chicken salad sandwich on the afternoon of my fourth day at the abbey when the sound of someone entering the room had me turning around to find what my mind refused to acknowledge as anything but a fairy, dressed in nothing but a pair of jeans and the most beautiful set of black, blue and gray wings. His short hair was like blue flames that surrounded his charming features in wild disarray. Wide black eyes blinked in surprise as he took me in, chicken sandwich and all.

We danced around the kitchen, warily observing each other as he moved toward the fridge and I moved away from it. He reached behind him, pulled open the large, stainless steel door and turned to bend and look inside. A sexy Irish lilt drifted out from the depths of the fridge while a variety of berries, grapes and cheeses piled up on the counter. "Ye must be the new lass." He closed the door and turned to face me with a wink and a smile on his sensuous mouth. "Rae failed to mention how cute ye are when he told me of ye yesterday. I'm Chris, by the way."

My chance to reply was cut off by Rae's appearance in the kitchen. I gave a low whistle of appreciation at the obviously tailored for him suit, gleaming shoes and combed hair. Startled blue eyes searched the room and finally, rested on me. "Wow, Rae, you look awesome. Got a meeting?" Chris snickered behind me and I turned to glare at him but not before catching the half-smile on the angel's face. "What are you laughing at?"

"That, Lovie, is not Rae." The Fae popped a grape in his mouth and tilted his head toward the other man in the kitchen. "I'd tell ye what he is if I didn't think it would scorch the innocent off yer ears though sweetie."

The man I had assumed was Rae chuckled and drew my attention back toward him with a small tap on the counter next to me. "Honey, don't mind Christian. Fairy is Angel drunk and doesn't know his head from his ass right now." He smiled when I looked up at him and introduced himself as Metatron, Rae's twin brother.

Christian loaded his fridge finds onto a platter and rounded the counter with a saucy wink at me before he dropped a kiss on Tate's cheek. "Not too drunk to know how much your head likes me arse just fine, hm lover?"

Lover? Head? Arse? My eyes widened as I looked at the two men, one angel, the other Fae and realized what I was seeing with their interplay. "You're gay? But you're an angel."

"Aye, he is." Christian laughed on his way out of the kitchen and left me to gape at Tate who had taken to adjusting the collar of his lavender shirt and white tie in order to avoid my confused sputtering.

"But - how?"

Rae came in just then, took a bite of the uneaten half of my sandwich and quipped through the food in his mouth, "Bad experience with a woman. We're talking horrific. Turned him into a Molly with a penchant for designers, silk trunks and shares in several lube companies." He held up the remaining piece of sandwich and asked if I planned to finish it. I waved my hand to say that he could have it but the gesture was cut short when Tate's arm swung out and clocked his twin smack in the left side of the jaw with a right hook that would have made a professional boxer jealous.

"I might prefer the boys but I can still kick your ass any day of the week. Watch your mouth little brother before someone else watches it for you."

Rae was off his chair and the two men were rolling around the kitchen before either of them could fling a who's-your-bitch-now at the other. Tate threw Rae off his back and the small table in the middle of the room split in half when the big angel landed squarely on it.

The noise from the fight must have carried down the hall and caught his attention bringing Christian back in to the kitchen in a full out run. He looped an arm around Tate's waist, hauled him off his brother with what looked like minimal effort and dragged the mass of flailing arms and legs toward the door. "Take care of that one while I see to Prissy Pants?"

Christian left me alone with Rae and the kitchen that was now fit to be called a disaster zone. I was tempted to call in FEMA to help clean up the mess but opted for checking on Rae to see if he was able to get up under his own power or would need my help to move his carcass up off the floor. A quick trip to the sink saw a damp cloth in my hand as I made my way back to where Rae lay groaning amidst the table debris.

The beginnings of a curse died on Rae's lips. Blood welled from the split in his lower lip and he dropped his head back down to the tiles. I knelt by his head and pressed the cloth to his busted kisser. "Are you okay?" He blinked up at me and mouthed a thank you which earned him a smile as I slid an arm under his neck and grabbed hold of his opposing hand. "No problem. Need a hand up?"

"Yeah, and maybe some ice too?" I nodded and helped him stand, noticing along the way up that he winced as my arm circled around the back of his ribcage. He leaned on me like I was a man of his own size and strength and, for once, I was glad of the added strength that I thought Shade provided. Rae sat on one of the unbroken stools by the counter while I fetched him some ice cubes in a freezer bag.

I handed him the bag of cubes and watched for a moment as he debated where to put it and finally settled it on his jaw. "You guys fight like that a lot or was it just for my benefit?" He laughed and winced as the intake of breath caused his injured ribs to pain him. "How are the ribs? I don't imagine landing on the table did them much good."

Rae looked at me and I saw his eyes narrow slightly as I felt a subtle push at my shields. He tried to read me and I clamped down tighter to keep him out. No one, not even Celine, knew what I really was and I planned to keep it that way, haven or not. I felt another stronger push against my shielding and smiled at Rae while I moved away to begin putting the kitchen to rights.

"How about you make us some sandwiches to replace the one that got destroyed while I clean this up?"

"How about you tell me what you're hiding behind those shields of yours and I'll clean up the mess?" A wave of his hand had the room cleaned up and left me standing there with nothing to use as a distraction from the conversation he clearly wanted to have. My eyes met his and we faced off for long minutes while I decided whether I really wanted to show this man my true self, the true extent of what I could do.

"No. Trust me, you won't like what you see, Rae." I sighed, walked around the counter and started making fresh sandwiches for the two of us. Shade was back to yammering at me non-stop and my teeth ground together in frustration while I tried to block him out by focusing on the sandwiches.

The combined efforts of Shade and Rae pushing at my shields finally succeeded in snapping my control and my eyes flashed black as I turned to face the angel in the room. "You want to see that badly? Fine, here you go then."

I heard his sharp intake of breath when my aura began to fill the room, sucking out the light as the darkness of it took over. The scent of death rolled through, sickly sweet and pungent with the smells of the grave. I let him feel everything that I was capable of, every last bit of the power I held tightly in check until I was sure he'd never press me to do it again.

My shields slammed back down into place and I cast a glance at Rae who sat wide-eyed and silent in the cheery afternoon sunlight that had once again filled the kitchen. "Satisfied?"

Rae nodded, the bite of sandwich from earlier like a ball of lead in his stomach as he rose from the chair and backed toward the door. "You're a necromancer? You control the dead?" He had nearly reached the door and looked back to see how much further until he was out in the hall. Rae must have figured that once he was out he would be able to turn his back on me safely. He was so wrong on that one.

I put the knife I'd been using down on the counter and laughed when I saw the big bad angel backing away in fear of little old me. "Yep. I control the dead. All of them, in any shape they come in." The flash of fear in Rae's eyes made me laugh again as I advanced toward him. "Are you afraid? You asked to see what I am, tried to force yourself under my shields - and when I show you what's under them you have the nerve to be afraid? You. Have. Got. To. Be. Kidding. Me." I jabbed a finger into the center of his chest with each word, forcing him to finally back out into the hall. My eyes raked over him and my lips turned up in a disgusted sneer as he turned and walked away. "You of all people should know better, Rae. I believe the saying goes Ask and Ye Shall Receive? You asked."

The broad back covered in a light blue polo disappeared into another room down the hall and I returned to the kitchen when the slamming of the door told me he'd gone inside, and he wasn't happy.

I glanced at the two partially put together sandwiches on the counter and made a disgusted face at them before going over to finish them up and put them in the fridge. Someone was bound to be hungry later and I had never been one to let good food go to waste or leave a mess behind for others to clean up.

When I was satisfied that things were as I'd found them I took myself out to the garden. I'd found a quiet place under the canopies of a few Sycamore trees and made my way over to spend a few quiet hours meditating to quiet the inner turmoil that releasing my powers created.

Come back on November 12th, 2010 for a look at Chapter 10 of Possession is Nine Tenths - Ardeur.

Copyright © 2010 Danielle Gavan

Danielle Gavan
Paranormal and Erotic Romance Author
Possession is Nine Tenths - Ardeur
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All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, locations, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination, or have been used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, locales, or events is entirely coincidental. No portion of this work may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the author.