Tradition Be Damned Read online

  Months from the Sisterhood. I promised myself that when I got back, I’d have answers about how I would conduct the rest of my life. I’d figure things out, somehow.

  With my hood on my head, I bought us two train tickets for first class cabins that were connected. The tickets would be good for this ride and the five we’d have to take after this one. My guards had tried to insist we only needed one room since they’d be staying in the hallway to guard me with only one of them in my room. We had weeks of travel ahead of us. They could rotate who was where, but they would have a room to rest in separate from mine, in case I started to grate on their nerves or they on mine.

  Not that I could imagine that happening from my end …

  Once on the train, I took a shower, letting the hot water hit me. It felt good, but it rinsed the healing cream right off me. I was still sore, and some of the burn came back. I’d no sooner put a towel around myself when I looked up to see Bryant leaning in the doorway, his gaze caressing me. He held up the cream in his hand.

  “Let me?”

  I nodded and walked toward him. In front of him, I dropped the towel and he massaged the cream into my skin, taking his time with each touch. “Last night when we did this, you dropped unconscious almost instantly. Scared me, but I think you were so relieved to have some decrease in your discomfort that you could finally really sleep.”

  The train moved forward for the first time, letting out a screech of the siren before it took off, gaining speed. I’d never been on one before, and it was everything I could do to stay upright.

  “Weird, right? My first time on a train was to come to see if I could be a guard.” Bryant bent over and kissed my neck.

  I shivered, my breasts tingling. I wanted him. I wasn’t going to pretend otherwise. I turned around to regard him. His blond hair was tied up in its usual bun. He could stop me if he wanted to, but I reached up, grabbing the restraint and letting his hair fall down around his shoulders.

  His locks were golden, shiny. I touched them lightly, and he smiled at me. “I have hot dreams about you touching my hair.”

  I could hardly breathe. “What do I do with it?”

  He picked me up, and I wrapped my legs around his waist. He carried me to the bed and lay me down. It was roughly the same size as the one I had at the Sisterhood.

  His gaze sought mine like he looked for something, and then eventually he nodded. I wasn’t privy to whatever conversation he’d had in his own head, but he’d clearly settled on something. What was it?

  “Someday I’ll tell you about my dreams that involve my hair. For now, I want to just love you. Okay?”

  My throat felt clogged. “No one has ever loved me.”

  “I always will.”

  For the next four years … I pushed away the thought. Few got forever, particularly in our world where one day someone was healthy and the next they were possessed by a demon and left to die in a hole somewhere. I wouldn’t look for more than happiness when I could have it. Right then, Bryant was joy.

  His mouth met mine, and I knew one thing for sure, I didn’t want to stop until he was deep inside of me. He could remember when he’d met me; well, I remembered him too. He’d been a Two then. I’d disliked my number One. He’d been angry and annoyed with me. I could tell, even though I’d done nothing yet to bother anyone.

  But the then-Two—my Bryant—had kind eyes and hadn’t minded when I’d stammered through introductions. I’d thought he hated me, as I assumed they all did. But he had, at least, the good manners to not make me feel like an idiot.

  Now he kissed me like I mattered to him most in the world. His lips were gentle, and his breath sweet. I let myself run my hands through his hair while he pressed on top of me. He must have liked it; I could feel his cock getting harder, pressing down on me, the longer we caressed.

  He pulled at my clothes, and I helped him take them off me. Eventually, I pulled at his shirt and pants until we were both nude. He had seen me thus many times now but not like this. Still, I looked down, not meeting his eyes. “I don’t suppose there were any secrets left about what I look like.”

  “You glow with beauty. You know that, right?”

  I stroked his cheeks. “That’s just my powers.”

  “Bullshit.” He kissed me before I could respond, his hand on my head, touching my small tendrils of hair. If ever I needed a reminder of how odd I truly could look, it was with my nearly bald head, shaved of most of my hair.

  I reached between us to stroke his hard length, feeling it grow in my hand. He practically growled against my lips. I’d done something right. His blond hair fell past his shoulders, touching me gently, like a slight caress, while the heat grew between us.

  He stroked my breasts, eventually scooting down so he could take my nipple in his mouth. I cried out. How could something pinch and feel good at the same time? “Bry, I love that.”

  He lifted his head only long enough to speak. “Please keep calling me Bry, always.”

  Okay, I could easily keep doing that. I stroked his hard abs. The guards were strong because they worked at staying that way. “You’re so beautiful.”

  “I should be saying that to you.” He scooted downward, and I gripped his shoulder. “I want to get there with you in me. Is that what you want?”

  “You want to give that to me?” His eyes widened. “I feel lucky to touch you; I want to make you feel good. I didn’t imagine you’d actually want that with me. I … yes.”

  I kissed him gently on the mouth. “Yes. Please.”

  “Don’t ever say please to me. I am for you, always.”

  I took both his cheeks in my hands. “Don’t say always. Okay?” I kissed him before he could answer. Again and again. Bryant moaned loudly, moving his body until he positioned at my core.

  “Anne, I don’t want to hurt you. We’ll go slowly.”

  I bit his bottom lip, and he shivered above me. “I trust you, Bry.”

  Slowly, ever so achingly so, he pressed inside of me. He was right. It could have hurt. But each inch he stretched me felt like heaven until he was deep inside of me. I’d never been so full. “You’re inside of me.”

  I knew it was a ridiculous thing to say. Of course he was. That had been the whole idea. But the reality was something so different than I’d expected, I could almost not quite believe it.

  “Anne.” His voice shook. “You feel like home.”

  A muscle ticked in his jaw. I could see the strain on his face. He needed to move, and I wanted to talk. What was the matter with me? Bryant pressed a finger in between us, stroking my clit. That was all I needed. My muscles clenched around him. I wanted more.

  “Good?” He pulled out a little bit and pressed in again. The friction was heaven.

  “Amazing.”

  He kissed down on my neck. “I’d do anything for you. Anything.”

  I squeezed him tightly inside of me; the deeper I could take him, the better it was. I had never done this before, but it felt like I knew Bryant intimately already, like we were old lovers who knew each other’s ways.

  I didn’t know how long we moved together because time ceased to matter to me. There was only us. He whispered words in my ears; most of them made no sense. “Missed you, missed this,” caught my attention. That made no sense—this was our first time—and yet I understood him perfectly. It was like we had been apart and now could be together again instead of at last.

  Who cared what any of it meant? I felt … like I was going to explode, and then I did. All over, again and again. His body jolted above mine as he emptied himself inside of me. We were both panting when he fell on top of me. It didn’t hurt. He was warm where I’d been cold. I wrapped my arms around him and closed my eyes.

  Later, with the train taking us the farthest north I’d ever been and with still so much farther to go, I lay in his arms. He was awake but dozing. His breathing hadn’t changed enough to really be asleep.

  “Can you d
o something for me?” His voice was low. “Really sleep tonight. I can feel what your powers do. The others can too. Since the carriage, I’ve been bouncing. Energized. Awake. I can’t really give you enough words to explain it. Healthy. I don’t need anymore. Don’t turn on in the middle of the night to fix me. We take care of you. You don’t have to see to us anymore.”

  I rolled onto my side to touch his chest. “I wish I could understand. I don’t control when or how they turn on. They just do.”

  “Hmm.” He didn’t like that answer, but instead of verbalizing, he simply pulled me tighter. My head was on his chest, his hand holding it there gently. It should have felt stifling, but instead it was comfort. Bryant shut out the world. In his embrace, there were only the soft, easy sounds of the train taking us towards the Deadlands.

  I dreamed. The beings that had circled me when I’d fought the incubus were there. I could see them, in their inhuman way, as they flew and danced around me. I stood in a circle, fire surrounding me. I was there and yet I wasn’t. At least I knew I wasn’t alone. They were there. My guys. My fated. My chosen.

  I turned to look at them all. They wore masks; I couldn’t see their faces.

  Chosen …

  The flying beings spoke again.

  It’s time. It’s time. It’s time.

  The scene changed. A woman with blond hair rocked back and forth in a corner. She screamed, cried, grabbed the floor. The poor dear. She couldn’t be more than a few years older than myself. A baby wailed in a crib nearby while her husband paced the length of the train cabin. It looked like my own.

  The woman was possessed.

  There was nothing I could do for those poor souls. I could only handle bigger demons. Not the taken. Yet … that wasn’t true. I knew it.

  I sat up straight in bed. My powers blasted, and the skin on my back still burned. I didn’t care. She needed me.

  I swung my legs over the side of the bed as Bryant’s eyes opened. “I don’t need your powers, my lady.” I wasn’t a lady, but now was not the time to argue. Now I needed to work, to use the gifts the Divinity had given me. “Come back to bed.”

  “This isn’t for you, Bry.” My voice sounded funny, and the room blurred, all hard edges vanishing. I might think I still slept, except I knew the difference.

  Clothing was required. Methodically, I dressed myself.

  Bryant grabbed his pants and was quickly at my side. “Demon?”

  “Of a sort. She needs me. I won’t say no.” I didn’t expect him to understand. How could he? “I won’t say no. I never say no.”

  “Anne, I don’t get it, but you’re not going alone.” He banged on the door before he opened it. I heard groans and the sounds of men waking from sleep. I wasn’t sure what he said. It wasn’t my problem. They would come. They were warriors. They would never leave me. I shook my head. Some of my thoughts seemed like they came from elsewhere.

  I hummed to myself a song I didn’t know, but doing so comforted me. I walked toward the door. The woman waited. Mason grabbed my arm. “Hold on. Just a minute.”

  I touched his hand. He always caught me first. It was so sweet. “There’s no time to waste.”

  The hood was placed gently on my head. Garrett, he always thought of everything. “Not without the covering. It protects you. If people knew who you were without it, you would always be at their mercy. It isn’t only to make you look all spiritual and other.”

  How did he know that? I hadn’t considered that role of the hood. I needed to go. Kieran’s voice filled the room. “She’s anxious, and her powers are riding her. We need to let her do what she thinks she has to do. I want to protect her, too. This is her gift. There’s no stopping it; there is only getting out of the way and keeping the rest of the world out of it, too.”

  Milo stood in the doorway. “I cleared the hallway.”

  They were all so helpful, each one making this possible. I turned to look at them. “Fire can create, can’t it? Even as it burns?”

  Kieran looked at Garrett. “Did you follow that?”

  “No.” He shook his head.

  Bryant charged forward, moving Milo out of the way. “I’m going to walk next to her; the rest of you stay close. No one gets near. No one. Understood?”

  “Yes,” they answered at once. They’d follow Bryant anywhere. That was what loyalty looked like.

  Silence filled the hallway. Most of the passengers were asleep, and the few we ran into stank of alcohol and overindulgence. None of them got near me. I let the guys do what they did. They were good at their jobs.

  I could hear the woman screaming in my mind, and I moved toward the sound. “She’s in so much pain,” I said to no one in particular.

  Bryant shook his head. “I hear nothing.”

  “That is for the best. I wouldn’t wish this on any of you.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “We’d take it from you.”

  “Then I wouldn’t be special.” I’d meant it as a light remark, but he hissed in his breath.

  “Bullshit.”

  Mason punched his arm. “Watch your mouth.”

  If only they knew the things demons said to me, they wouldn’t worry about the cursing.

  I knocked hard on the door, and then Garrett pulled me back, letting Mason and Bryant stand in front. I was getting in that room, no matter the danger. I hoped they all understood.

  Ten

  I rocked back and forth on my feet while Bryant explained who I was and what I was doing there. The man who’d answered, dressed in only a t-shirt and shorts he’d probably expected to sleep in, stared at me like I was an alien. I couldn’t blame him. Most people would go their lives without seeing a Sister. Even a person like him—a moneyed man on this train in a suite—didn’t have access to the Sisters unless he was very powerful.

  The baby’s cry made me wince. She knew her mother was in trouble.

  “What is your name, sir?” I called out, pulling out of Garrett’s hold to step between Bryant and Mason. This man was no danger to me. He wished me no harm. Confused? Yes. Evil? No.

  He lowered his eyes, which was ridiculous since I was the daughter of peasants whose family didn’t even have the good sense to give me up when they were told to. The only way I could see him was from the slit in my hood, and his looking down only made it harder. I steadied myself. This was about saving a soul, not getting caught up in the realities that made my job more difficult.

  The husband spoke to the ground. “My name is Ned. I’m sorry if we disturbed you, Sister. My wife is not feeling well.”

  Enough was enough. “Your wife is possessed. You know it. I know it. And, if you want the truth, your six-month-old baby knows it. I’m going to help her. I’m not asking. Consider it a mission from the Divinity because that is what it is. If you’d rather no one else on this train finds out your wife is possessed so you don’t lose your status, then get out of my way and let us in. Standing in the hall risks discovery for you. No one will like knowing there is a possessed person on the train. They’ll likely throw you all off—including the baby. Move or my guards will move you.”

  I had no doubt that, were I to give them the word, Mason and Bryant would move Ned right out of way.

  It didn’t come to that. Ned retreated out of the way, and I walked in with Bryant right behind me. Milo stayed outside, presumably to guard the hall, and the others took their places around the room. My presence made the woman from my dream frantic. She grabbed her head, rocking back and forth more violently. Her daughter didn’t fare much better. Her wails became worse.

  The blurred feeling I’d had since I opened my eyes from my dream increased. Nothing existed besides the possessed woman, the screaming baby, and myself. I did have a general sense that my guards were there too, like spots of light in the darkness. I couldn’t see their corporeal selves.

  The baby caught my attention. I walked to her and stared down. “Why do you suppose I keep running into babies?”
/>   “Are you asking me, Sister?” Garrett answered. He was the beacon of light closest to me.

  “Sure.” He seemed as good a person to answer as any. Garrett observed things so closely, he might well know the answer.

  He laughed, a low sound. “I’m sorry, Sister. You’ll have to answer for me. The ways of the Divinity have never made all that much sense to me.”

  “Me neither.” I touched the baby’s hand. She was afraid. I wasn’t sure exactly how I knew, but I did. She was going to lose her mother if we didn’t do something fast. The demon possessing the woman was strong. Her father was in denial and hiding things from the world. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I don’t know the first thing about babies. It’s a good thing your mother does.”

  I had to look like a monster, a faceless, hooded creature, and yet my voice seemed to soothe her. She stopped crying. I turned from the smallest person in the room to the one suffering the most. She was covered in sweat. When was the last time anyone had bathed her? She needed help, not to be hidden away.

  The problem was like a disease with no cure; there was nothing to be done to help the possessed. Sometimes the demon was strong enough to move on to a stronger host after their first host died. In any case, the first host died and it wasn’t pretty. I wondered if Ned had enough connections to have someone else bring her somewhere like the hole to die alone or if he’d do it himself. This train ride probably had something to do with it. He’d tell people she’d fallen or drowned. They wouldn’t question. The nobility left their secrets where they thought they belonged, hidden in their basements and the pits of their souls.

  I’d watched the nobility come and go for years.

  Still, the Divinity had called me to help this woman. I would do so. If I could.

  I knelt down on the floor, feeling two pushes of light behind me. Two of my guards were right behind me. I turned slightly. “Please back up a little. I can’t do this with you right there.”

  I couldn’t go dark when they were so light.

  “What’s your name? Do you still remember?”