In Smoke And Ruins Read online

As soon as he glides himself inside me, my world stills. I never thought it was possible to connect to another person this way… this much. The realness of it all, the deep ache I feel in my heart for this man, for the way he’s been treated, grounds me. Tears slip from my eyes, and he starts to move, pulling his face from the crevice at my shoulder and coming face to face with the emotional wreck that is me. He slows, and my brows furrow.

  “Don’t stop, please. I need this,” I beg. I pull at the hard ridges of his back, feeling his skin flush against mine. He nods once, realizing I need him to take me somewhere else, somewhere my mind can’t follow, where my demons can’t find me.

  “Karina,” he moans, kissing my lips. He breathes me in, and I do the same with him. His scent fills my lungs, and my body feels heavy, drunk with lust. We’re growing louder, hotter, our bodies slick with sweat. He lifts my leg over his shoulder and deepens his position, growling when he reaches the end of me. I want more. In fact, that’s the only word I seem to remember now. More, more, more. And he gives it. He swirls his thumb across my clitoris, massaging until I clench around him. The things I say, the sounds that leave my throat, are unlike any other that I’ve experienced before. Something about this orgasm… I feel like I’m falling, floating, swimming.

  My ears ring, and somewhere in the background I hear Elijah moan, pumping harder and harder inside me, milking himself with my inner muscles. With one final grunt, he releases and gently falls of top of me as I’m coming back down from the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had. He softens, and I grow more and more sensitive as time passes.

  For some reason, I feel like crying. No, like bawling. Like releasing every single one of my demons from their cages. Like every barrier that has ever come between Elijah and I needs to be knocked over with a sledgehammer. I’m about to open my mouth and release the floodgates when I hear a knock on the door.

  “Karina, we could really use your help down here when you get the chance,” Marcel sounds from behind the closed door. As soon as Elijah hears his voice, he slides off me and dresses. I do the same.

  “No problem, Marcel. What’s going on?” I say, zipping up my pants and throwing my sweater back on.

  “Well, uh….”

  I immediately feel sick to my stomach. Why is he asking for me? Elijah or Soren are usually the ones he goes to first. I take a quick check to see if Elijah is finished dressing.

  “What is it, Marcel?” I ask impatiently, swinging the door open. My brows lift when I see the look on his face: shocked, afraid, and maybe a little… ill?

  “It’s Scarlett,” he says. “We think she’s going to have the baby tonight.”

  I race down the stairs, following the sounds of men with panicked faces gathered around one beautiful, pregnant, soon-to-be mother, bearing down through a contraction. Elijah slides right up behind me and grips my shoulders, kissing the side of my head in encouragement.

  I guess we’re having a baby tonight.

  “I can’t do this, Micha. I can’t do this. Please, you have to help me. I can’t do this,” Scarlett cries, not connecting her eyes with any particular person in the room. Her chin is tucked tightly into her chest.

  “It’s going to be okay, Scarlett. Just breathe, okay? Can you do that for me, baby? Can you breathe in and out, nice and deep, nice and slow?” Micha’s voice is gentle, calm.

  I’m impressed that he’s able to hold it together so well when I know very well he must be freaking out as much as I am on the inside.

  This isn’t good. Scarlett has been in labor for three hours, which as far as labor goes, is not that long. But for some reason, it’s been agony from the very beginning. She’s struggled to even sit up, and she’s losing more and more energy as time passes. The others have been frantically running around, bringing cool towels and bowls of water.

  “We have to get her energy up. She needs to eat or drink something,” I say, looking directly into Micha’s eyes so he understands the severity of this moment. If we don’t get Scarlett’s energy to spike, this labor will drag out and put the baby in danger. She has to be strong enough to push.

  Only a few moments later, Elijah rushes carefully up the stairs with a glass of orange juice filled nearly to the brim. “Here, Micha. Feed her small sips at a time. The sugar should help her.” He hands over the drink and comes to my side, completely unfazed by the situation. I’m kneeling in front of Scarlett’s legs, which are open wide so I’m able to check her cervix. I’m following all the training that I learned when I worked in the Sicarri infirmary. I’ve helped deliver less than a handful of babies, and only in the Sicarri hospital. Never in a dimly lit bedroom with pillows and blankets propping up the mother.

  I glide across the room, setting up a spot to place the baby in case it can’t immediately go to Scarlett or Micha. I grab more towels, trying to take a few calming breaths at the same time. It’s crazy to think that only a few hours ago Elijah and I had been in the throes of passion. Sensing my unease, Elijah moves next to me, placing a comforting hand on the small of my back and kissing my temple. I lean into him for a second before pulling away and busying myself with preparing for the baby.

  Micha seems to have calmed Scarlett down a bit, and. I can hear her taking a few loud sucks from the rim of the glass. I can’t say I’m not relieved, but I know it won’t be for long. The baby is extremely close, and I’m sure Scarlett will be crying out any moment, telling me she’s ready to push. I know that it’s agony for her right now, but after a while she’ll realize what an amazing feat it is to have delivered her baby in such a short amount of time. No matter how painful.

  “You’re doing great, you know,” Elijah mutters, leaning into me.

  “Isn’t that something you usually say to the mother?” I ask, smirking at him.

  “I would say in this case, you both deserve it. You haven’t left her side; you’ve hardly taken your eyes off of her. I’m surprised you aren’t over there helping Micha get her to drink right now. So, like I said, you’re doing great. Everything is going to be okay.” Elijah’s voice is just above a whisper, but I hear him loud and clear. I turn to face Scarlett again, and Elijah moves behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders and rubbing the tension from my muscles there.

  In the next moment, my name falls from Scarlett’s lips, and I know it’s time. I can tell by the way she bears down and the moan that escapes her chest. The baby is coming. Just before I can rush to her, Elijah’s hands clamp down on my shoulders, holding me close. At first I’m confused, but then I notice that Micha is up and moving, kneeling between her legs as she pushes. I frantically search Elijah’s eyes I look over my head.

  He kisses my forehead. “You should go hold her hand, talk her through it,” he says, letting me go. Before I have the time to truly consider his words, I rush to Scarlett. When I reach her side, I lock eyes with Micha to see if he’s got things under control. His quick nod tells me he does, so I turn my attention to Scarlett.

  “Please.” Scarlett whimpers between breaths.

  “Scarlett, you have this, okay? Soon you’re going to meet that beautiful baby, and you’ll forget about everything that’s bad in this world. You’ll hold him or her and feel nothing but light, goodness. Nothing but love. You hear me?”

  Elijah stares at me, his eyes glassing over for a moment before he joins us on the other side of Scarlett. I’m surprised he’s still here, unlike the others, who have all run scared at the sight of a pregnant woman in labor. Funny, the thought of those big, tough men afraid of a tiny baby. I really shouldn’t be surprised Elijah isn’t easily frightened off by this, though. He’s seen it all before, with Vara.

  I shake off the thought, not wanting to go down that rabbit hole right now. I try to stay in the moment by rubbing a cool towel across Scarlett’s forehead, wiping up the beads of sweat collecting there. Her bright, sunshine-colored hair is damp and lacks its usual luster. Her green-rimmed glasses lie somewhere in the bed beside her. She threw them off in the first hour.

 
“Just one more push, babe, and the baby is here. You can do that, right? You’re so strong, so beautiful. You can do one more.” Micha encourages Scarlett, and it seems to get through to her. She tucks her chin into her chest once more, and with all the force of her body, she pushes until we hear a tiny, piercing cry fill the room.

  A girl. A tiny baby girl with ten fingers and ten toes. We take her in, adoring every inch of her wrinkly, purple skin, so new and so beautiful.

  The magic of the moment is broken when Soren bursts into the room with Willow following closely behind, a panicked look on his face. He stares at the baby in Micha’s arms, his eyes draining of all emotion. The look that overtakes him makes my stomach sink.

  Something bad is coming. Something evil is coming, and now there is an innocent baby in the house that we have to protect, no matter the cost.

  “What is it?” Elijah asks, disrupting the silence in the room. His voice echoes off the walls, startling me. Not a single one of us really needs to wait for the answer. We just know.

  Demons are coming.

  “Lincoln intercepted intel. They’re planning an attack. They’ll be here in an hour, if that,” Soren says.

  They’re coming here? How would they even know we came back to this house? How are we going to keep everyone safe?

  “Micha, bring Scarlett and the baby to my room upstairs. Place everything you can in front of the door and barricade it as best you can. Don’t come down until you hear my voice on the other side of that door,” Elijah orders. He walks swiftly from the room, and Soren and I follow, listening to him rattle off orders to the rest of the Sicarri in the house.

  Suddenly I skid to a stop, successfully stealing Elijah and Soren’s attention. Willow turns, whining. “You have to leave, Soren,” I say, earning confused looks from everyone.

  “Karina, what are you talking about?” Elijah asks.

  “Think about it. They have no idea that Soren is still alive. For all the demons know, he’s been dead since Lincoln stabbed him in the heart. You left no one alive on the mission to kill Abe. No one knows who you are, Soren. You have to leave.”

  “But I’ve gone on missions with you all since I’ve been back. Anyone could have seen me. And I don’t even look like the same person,” Soren says.

  “True, but what if we slip up? Call you Soren in the middle of battle? Or what if they capture you? Plus, I haven’t heard a lick of talk about you with the intel I’ve been gathering. Don’t you think they would have mentioned something like that had they put it together that you were actually Soren? No, you have to leave. We can’t chance it,” I tell him. Then I swing my eyes in Elijah’s direction, relieved when I see he agrees.

  “She’s right. If someone finds you here, your cover will be blown.” Elijah looks at his son, knowing this decision isn’t going to make him happy. It could also be catastrophic for us, losing another team member.

  Soren echoes my last thought. “Dad, you can’t expect me to just disappear when you’ve already lost Micha. He’s in no position to help you fight. You can’t afford to be another man down. You can’t seriously be considering this.” Soren grows more and more angry as he speaks.

  “We’ll be okay. We’ll figure it out. But Karina makes sense. What if we could use your demon identity to get ahead of the game? They can’t see your face and know you’re working with us. It’s too risky,” Elijah tells him, and his tone is so final, none of us say another word on the subject. Soren ducks from the house, slamming the back door as he exits. I know he’s going to be pissed at me later for bringing this up. Guilt heats my cheeks.

  “Same goes for you, Lincoln. We can’t have them knowing you’re with us too,” Elijah calls to the demon, standing to the right of the door Soren stormed out of. Lincoln nods, but just before he slips out the door, Elijah hails him once more.

  “Make sure he’s okay, Lincoln. Help him understand?” Elijah asks, his voice shrouded with pain. Lincoln says nothing but keeps that infuriating smirk in place while quickly sliding out the door. Willow takes her chance and follows the two men, slipping through the door before it closes. Elijah closes his eyes for a moment. I want nothing more than to go to him, cover his face in kisses, and tell him that he’s made the right decision. I want to drag him to bed and never come up for air. But my thoughts are crushed when Elijah opens his mouth and throws me back into reality.

  “How many should we expect?” Elijah asks Marcel, who is standing across the room, arms crossed.

  “There was no final count. Xo intercepted a phone call from one of the demon’s tapped phones. From information he gathered, it won’t be small,” Marcel says, then hesitates.

  “What is it?” I ask. Marcel has always been like a father to me. I never knew my real dad, who he was, or why he left us. But if I could have chosen, it would have been someone much like Marcel. I respect his opinion.

  “What with Scarlett and the baby, and being down men, I just thought maybe we’d want to consider returning to the warehouse. Maybe we shouldn’t fight this fight,” he says, though his words are backed up only with a small and meek voice.

  Every member of the Sicarri I’ve known has always been ready for a fight with demons. We’re the ones who never back down, never give up, and never run away. We’re protect the unburnt. On that basis alone, Marcel must feel awful for saying this out loud. That’s how I know how serious this situation is; he would never say something like that if he didn’t think we couldn’t fight the demons alone. Maybe we should think about leaving.

  There isn’t much time to decide.

  Everyone in the room has been quiet, and as I scan, meeting the eyes of my Sicarri family, I know that Marcel is right. We don’t have the power to fight them off. Our choices are fewer and fewer, and it looks like the smarter decision is to run.

  “Like cowards,” Elijah breaths, clenching his eyes shut, hard. In the next second, he opens his them and begins rattling off orders. It takes us all a second to realize that he’s instructing everyone to pack up, take only the essentials, and head to the cars outside.

  As soon as my ears catch up with my brain, I run upstairs, knocking lightly against the door of the room Elijah and I share and hear Micha’s low rumble on the other side.

  “Micha, we’re leaving. Pack up Scarlett and the baby. I’ll stick blankets and pillows in the back of one of the SUVs. Get them both down here as fast as you can, okay? We need to get out of here quick.” I’m not even finished speaking before I hear the scrape of wood against wood, and I assume it’s Micha, moving his furniture barricade away from the door.

  Good.

  I skid down the stairs, on the way to Scarlett and Micha’s bedroom. Once I get there, I gather blankets and pillows and shoving them under my arms, carrying them by the load into the back of the SUV and spreading them out in a hurry. After taking their things to one of the vehicles, Then I dash back inside, colliding with Elijah, who steadies me by holding my arms.

  “Are you okay?” he asks, taking in my flustered appearance.

  In my rush, I’ve broken a sweat, and I’m sure I look flushed. “I’m fine, just trying to get Scarlett and the baby set up. Did you get hold of Soren?” I ask. He nods his head, letting go of my arms.

  “I did. He’s already leaving with Lincoln. Listen, there are some things I want to talk with you about when we make it back to the warehouse. Is that okay?” he asks, his eyes locked on the steady thrum of my pulse beneath my jaw.

  “Of course.”

  He stalks through the house, gathering up the last of the supplies. When I notice Micha guiding Scarlett and the tiny wrapped-up bundle in her arms down the stairs and out the door, I quickly dart upstairs, pluck my computer from the nightstand, and pull my swords out from under the bed. I’m balancing them in my arms and running down the stairs when the front door swings open. Marcel. The gravity I see in his demeanor sends a chill up my spine.

  “They’re too close,” he says.

  “What do we do?” Xo asks, his stanc
e indicating he’s prepared for a battle.

  “Fuck. Prepare to fight,” Elijah murmurs.

  My jaw drops. Fight? We just went over this. We don’t have the numbers. We fight, and there’s a huge chance we all die.

  Elijah’s eyes lock on mine, and I can tell what he’s thinking, what he’s saying. It’s goodbye. Panic settles in my bones.

  “Wait,” I call out. “We could hide.”

  “Hide?” It’s clear he never considered the idea. The Sicarri don’t run, and they definitely don’t hide.

  “Three houses down there’s a bedroom with a covered porch that juts out on the top floor of the house. It’s safe, and it looks directly on this house, so it’ll give us a good vantage point.” I plead with my eyes for them to agree with me. Please let this work. I’m not ready to lose any of you.

  Elijah and the others consider my request for a second, and before I know it, they’re moving about the house, shutting off lights and grabbing the last few pieces they want to bring.

  I guess we’re doing this. The Sicarri—hiding from demons. Who would have thought?

  Within minutes, all seven of us, including the tiny new addition huddled tightly in Scarlett’s arms, are scattered around the upstairs bedroom of the house down and across the street. A heavy coating of dust covers the furniture; it’s obviously been empty a while. The people who lived here must have left in a hurry.

  I look back at the house we left, already seeing the demons overtake the yard surrounding it. We had just enough time to get up here and get settled, leaving behind every belonging.

  Elijah made a quick call to Lincoln and Soren, who already had a head start, and told them not to come back until they heard from one of us. Soren wasn’t happy about it but didn’t argue.

  Now we wait. Anxiously.

  “What if they decide to wait us out?” Ted says, breathing life into the room for the first time since we arrived.

  “We have enough provisions to last longer than they do, hopefully,” Elijah answers, but it sounds like he’s anything but sure. We’re sitting ducks here, and we all know it. “Besides, Soren will bring reinforcements if we need them,” he says.