Waking the Dead (The Second Rising Series Book 1) Read online

  I looked at him with curiosity. “Okay, now you sound like a wise old man.”

  Settling in on his side, he smiled at me and patted the bed beside him. Reluctantly, okay somewhat reluctantly, I laid down on my back beside him.

  “I am an old man. In many ways.”

  Realization suddenly dawned on me. I’d blame the alcohol, but something else seemed to be blocking my mental abilities tonight. Probably had something to do with the incredibly distracting body beside me. “Wait! Are you trying to tell me that you’re a phoenix?”

  Noah squeezed my hand and a surge of power roared through me. My insides tingled from my head through to my feet, forcing me to close my eyes and enjoy the ecstasy while it lasted. Shivers enticed me while the magic embraced me. The sensation was akin to orgasm, and pretty damned close to topping it if you’d ask me.

  “How do you do that?” I asked when I could finally speak again. I turned to see Noah’s purple eyes, brighter than ever staring at me in a way that I’d never known. His skin seemed to glow, and in the shadows of the room, I swear I saw wings again.

  “It’s part of our legacy,” he said softly.

  I plopped back down on the bed, spent and feeling content. Noah rubbed his finger up and down my arm, tracing the lines of my sweater in dangerous ways. “You’re a phoenix,” I stated.

  “I am.”

  “Can you turn into a bird?”

  Noah’s gaze dropped and his hand stopped caressing my arm. “No. Not anymore.”

  I lifted myself up onto my elbow and faced him. This time I grabbed his hand. “What do you mean?”

  He looked at the place our skin touched with a longing I didn’t understand. “A phoenix can be reborn for eternity. But if they fail in their protection, they are punished and are reborn in human form until the wrong has been righted.”

  His voice trembled at the end, making me believe he was embarrassed to admit such a thing. “So you were reborn human this time?” I guessed.

  “Yes,” he said softly.

  “And you came to Durham, North Carolina?”

  He looked up at me in shock, only to see my amused face. With a chuckle he replied, “Yes, I guess I did.”

  “Why is that?”

  Squeezing my hand again, he shook his head. “Because this is where I need to find my redemption.”

  “You mean where you need to right your wrong?”

  “Yes.”

  “Huh,” I mused. Here he was, a beyond beautiful phoenix in a place where most magic users typically wanted to avoid. Or at least I would have if not for my mom. “So the telekinesis?”

  “Is something that apparently sticks with us even in human form.”

  “So what is Rome, then? Is he another phoenix?”

  “No, he’s not. And I’ll let him tell you that. I have no doubt you’ll meet him in the morning.”

  In the morning? My heart fluttered with naughty thoughts. Stop it, Cressa. Maybe he just meant that he’d meet me for breakfast. And bring Rome. Despite my wild imagination drifting to places that could get me in serious trouble, I couldn’t stop a yawn from escaping.

  Noah laughed and jumped off the bed. “Scoot,” he said, shooing me off too.

  I complied and watched as he pulled back the covers, kicked off his shoes, and climbed into the bed again. “You should just stay here tonight,” he said with a smirk.

  “Should I now?”

  “It’s late and you’ve been drinking.”

  “I’m not drunk.”

  “No, but it’s late. And I’d still like to talk to you about some more job opportunities.”

  Well, twist my arm. I, too, pulled off my shoes and settled in beside him again. We didn’t touch at first, as I lay on my back and he on his. But then his hand found mine under the covers and I squeezed him tight.

  “So, a phoenix, huh?” I said after a bout of uncomfortable silence.

  “Yep.” He turned his head so that our eyes met. I wanted to run my hand through his hair. Or pull him a little closer… “Have you ever met one before?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “Good,” he said, and returned to looking up at the ceiling.

  “So, can you change forms when you’re not…stuck as a human?” I hoped my words wouldn’t offend him, and by the smile that grew on his face, I guessed I hadn’t.

  “No, not really. We primarily stay in avian form, invisible to the majority of the world. Only in the shadows do we ever get a chance to stand on two legs.”

  I was a bit too tired to understand exactly what he was saying, so I made a mental note to come back to that one tomorrow. “So you fly?”

  His smile grew, lighting up the room in a way that only true happiness could. “Yes.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  And he did. For the next hour, or maybe it was just a few minutes, I listened to his tales of soaring through the sky and witnessing many lifetimes over. At some point, I closed my eyes and it felt like I was right there with him. Dipping and floating and flying through the treetops. Mountains sang and the water reached for me as we skirted her borders.

  My dreams carried me through the night while I slept peacefully in Noah’s arms.

  I woke to someone caressing my back. At first it felt wonderful. Calm and peaceful and content. But then I realized that the hand was tracing my scars, and my sweater was no longer hiding them.

  My eyes flashed open, taking in the foreign room and trying to figure out where I was. Someone shifted in the bed beside me and a sheer rush of panic stopped my breath. When the events of last night came flooding back in a wave, excitement trickled through me. I rolled over, pulling the sheet a little higher to cover my bra, and found a pair of lavender eyes waiting to greet me.

  “Morning,” Noah said with a grin.

  “Hey.” My throat sounded like an eighty year old man and I immediately squeezed my eyes shut in embarrassment.

  In between his laughter, Noah brushed my hair back from my forehead. “You sound just fine.”

  I opened my eyes to look at him again. When I soaked in the dirty blond hair hanging in shambles, and the bare chest that taunted me like no other, I decided I never wanted to leave this bed. But I did have one question. “Where’s my sweater?”

  Noah’s smile lit up the room and he lifted his hands in the air. “I didn’t do it, I swear. When I woke up this morning, this was how I found you.”

  “Seriously?” I asked as even more embarrassment crept over my face.

  “Promise,” he said.

  “I must have sleep-dressed again,” I mumbled to myself. This was not the first time I’d done this. Although usually I would put clothes back on….

  “What?” Noah sat up, the blanket falling down to his waist. It took a moment for me to stop staring.

  “Nothing. Just something I do sometimes.” With the sheet still held firmly against my bra, I swung my legs around so that I could look down at the floor. Sure enough, my black sweater was rolled up in a ball beside the bed. Sighing, I left the comfort of the sheet and bent forward to grab my clothing.

  “It looks like you have a new scar,” Noah said quietly.

  I stopped mid-movement. Talking about my scars was something I’d tried to avoid at all costs. But Noah was…different. He wouldn’t be scared away. My fingers brushed the back of my right shoulder, and I felt the new lines given to me by Mr. Piedmont St. Ange last night.

  “I think it’s in the shape of a Roman Numeral,” Noah continued as he slid closer. I could feel him watching my every move.

  “Really? You think it looks like something?” Remembering how Brit swore up and down that they were just lines and marks, I found it oddly comforting that Noah saw more in them.

  “Yeah,” he said and then brushed his fingers lightly over the raised skin. Goosebumps tricked through my arms and up to my neck. “I think it’s the number two.”

  “Two huh?” Perhaps in reference to Mr. St. Ange’s namesake.

  Noah’
s continued touching my scars in a way that sent sensations shooting through every part of my lower body. I know that I shivered more than once, but yet he kept on doing it. “And this one looks like a cat’s eye,” he mused.

  That poor kitten.

  “And the circle with the line in the middle?” he asked.

  “A cow,” I muttered.

  Noah followed me out of the bed. “A cow? You’ve raised a cow from the dead?” he asked with amusement.

  “I had to practice on something. And my father knew a farmer…” I let the words trail off with a shrug. I’d practiced quite a bit on that farm.

  “Now that is something I’d pay to see.”

  I looked at Noah standing on the other side of the bed only to see that he was completely serious. And then I lost it. Tears fell from my eyes as I laughed at the thought of a phoenix paying to watch me raise a newly dead cow from the other side. He stared at me for several seconds before joining me in laughter. Something deep inside of me settled into place. Moments like this had been few and far between for me before.

  I really didn’t want it to end.

  The sound of something crashing to the floor in the kitchen made both of us stop. But Noah’s smiled stayed as he shook his head and grabbed a clean shirt from his closet. “Rome must be trying to cook again.”

  Fumbling with my sweater, I asked. “Rome is here?”

  “Sounds like it,” Noah said.

  He finished dressing himself in yet another black shirt that emphasized every perfect muscle of his human form. Once again, it took effort for me to tear my eyes away. He walked slowly toward me, seemingly aware of his effect on me. I tried not to blush, but I wasn’t sure if I had controlled it.

  “You should come meet him,” Noah said with a slight smirk. “I think he’ll like you.” He reached forward and lightly grabbed the back of my head. His large hand felt warm and inviting, and when his soft lips met my forehead, I knew I was lost. “I had a nice time last night,” he whispered.

  I tilted my head up, inviting him to explore me some more. But instead, Noah just brushed my cheek and stepped away. Disappointment rocked me to the core, so I did my best not to let it show. Perhaps a phoenix in human form couldn’t have a relationship. Or maybe it was forbidden. Or maybe he was gay. Either way, I needed to get a grip and stop acting like an obsessed tween.

  I followed Noah out the door and back down the empty hallway. Another crash, followed by a few choice words, echoed out of the kitchen. Noah laughed and I did my best not to, especially once I saw who was standing there. Well over six and a half feet tall, Rome looked like he could take on several of those fake wrestlers with just one hand. The large muscles, broad shoulders, and close-cropped dark hair didn’t go well with the scowl he currently wore on his face. Even the model-ready jeans and sweater couldn’t help.

  “I see you’re trying again?” Noah said lightly.

  The scowl tightened as Rome looked at his friend. But when his eyes found mine, his face changed drastically into one of amusement. “Ah, and you must be Cressa,” he guessed.

  I nodded but didn’t make a move. Something about him screamed danger. I sensed his otherworldliness immediately, but his true nature was yet another mystery.

  “Well, don’t be shy. Come and eat some eggs.” Rome grabbed a small pan, dwarfed by his ridiculously large hands, and dumped a pile of scrambled eggs on a plate. Stepping over the broken glass on the ground, he deftly maneuvered himself around the hazard.

  “Do you need help with that?” I asked, pointing at the mess.

  Rome smiled, and instantly the threat in him seemed to disappear. “I’ve got it all under control, luv.” He winked and a second later, the glass shards disappeared. Like disappeared from sight forever.

  “Uh, what did you just do?” I asked as a distinct smell of sulfur tickled my nose.

  “I took care of it,” Rome said with another wink. “Now, how are the eggs?”

  A little dumbfounded by his obvious use of magic, I shoved a bite of eggs into my mouth. Not that I could really taste anything with the sulfur scent still burning my nose hairs. Sulfur. Where had I smelled that before?

  As I tried to ponder my question, I got distracted by the way Rome stared at me. Sizing me up like a…well, I didn’t know what exactly. But the intense stare coming out of his very dark eyes made me squirm in my seat.

  “You’re right, Noah,” he said suddenly. “She is cute.” Rome grinned when I raised my brows.

  And something in me stopped any filter coming out of my mouth. Turning to look at Noah, who leaned casually against the refrigerator, I asked, “You think I’m cute?” Like I’d been possessed, I couldn’t quit speaking. “How come you never told me that?”

  Noah smiled, but his attention was on Rome. “Stop it, man,” he chuckled. “That’s not fair.”

  “I’m not doing it,” Rome said with turned up lips. He then walked back toward the stove and cracked a few more eggs.

  “Sulfur…” I mused while politely eating the rest of my home-cooked breakfast.

  “Excuse me?” Rome asked a little too quickly.

  “Your magic. It smells like sulfur.”

  Rome quickly looked at Noah, who just shrugged. His attention then focused back on me. “You’re a necromancer, right?”

  I swallowed hard before answering. “Yes…”

  “Interesting. I haven’t met very many of you,” Rome said. His black eyes sparkled with interest. “So what’s it like having control over the dead?”

  “Control?” I asked, nearly choking on my food. “It’s not really control as much as it is a temporary hold.” I’d never really thought about it that way before. I guess I did have some kind of control over the dead. But could I really make them do something I wanted?

  “You control them,” Rome stated matter-of-factly. “And that’s pretty cool.”

  “Did you have a successful evening?” Noah asked Rome, effectively taking the attention off of me. I liked him even more for that, and I sent a grateful smile in his direction.

  Rome chuckled and finished with the last of the eggs. Once he passed a plate to Noah, he leaned back and crossed his arms. “I filled my quota,” Rome said mysteriously.

  “Where do you work?” I asked once again before I could stop myself.

  “I don’t think I should tell you that,” Rome teased.

  “Fine, then. What are you?”

  This time he laughed loud enough to fill the house. “I do like her very much, Noah.”

  I heard Noah settle in the stool beside me. The closeness affected me but I didn’t want to look.

  “Let’s just say that you and I have more in common than you realize.” Rome seemed to think that’s all he was going to say, and the smirk on his face confirmed it for me.

  “The dead?” I guessed.

  “Maybe.”

  “But your magic reeks of sulfur. And that’s only a trait of a few creatures—”

  “Creatures?” Rome interrupted me.

  I shrugged. “Sure. Aren’t we all creatures?”

  “Some of us more than others,” Noah said and tossed a balled-up napkin at Rome.

  Ignoring the jab, Rome faced me. “You finished?” he asked as he pointed to my plate.

  I nodded and watched as he narrowed his eyes and my plate disappeared in front of me. The loud clang in the stainless steel kitchen sink clued me in as to where the plate mysteriously ended up.

  “You can blink?” I asked in amazement.

  “Blink?” he repeated with a smirk, and then appeared directly beside me. He rubbed my head when I screamed out. “Yes, yes I can, luv.” And then he reappeared again right where he’d been standing a few seconds earlier.

  Noah rubbed my back as he sat quietly beside me. I could see the hint of a smile peeking out from his lips. He was enjoying this.

  “You blink, you smell like sulfur—”

  “Hey,” Rome interrupted. “My magic smells like sulfur.” He lifted his arm and made
a loud sniffing noise. “I think I smell like a man.”

  Noah’s laughter filled my soul and I wondered at the extent of their relationship. It seemed like they’d known each other for years, but if Noah had been a phoenix for most of his lives, then why would he know Rome?

  “Fine, you blink, your magic smells like sulfur, and you have some kind of mysterious job that you only do at night.” I racked my brain trying to put two and two together, but it was like I had a mental block on problem solving right now. Nothing was connecting and I thought perhaps the incredible man sitting next to me, who was now rubbing my thigh, had a little something to do with that.

  “You’re phone is ringing,” Rome said out of the blue.

  “Huh?” I asked.

  He jerked his chin forward and said, “Someone is trying to call you.”

  I didn’t even hear my phone, but when I pulled it out of my bag sitting by the front entrance, sure enough, Brit was calling me. Had I told her where I was staying? Shit, she was probably worried.

  “Brit? Hey, I’m sorry. I’m all right. I just—”

  “Cressa, you need to come home now,” she said without any introductions.

  I didn’t like the way her voice trembled. “Why? What’s wrong?”

  There was a muffled sound at the other end followed by her hushed whispers. “Please, Cressa. I don’t know what to tell him.”

  “Brit? What’s wrong?” How far away was I? I couldn’t remember the drive here last night…

  “Your brother is here and he’s demanding to know where you are.” Another scratching sound pierced through the phone, like Brit was trying to cover the end for some reason. “Please hurry,” she finally said. “He scares me.”

  The line went dead and panic shot through me like an adrenaline rush on steroids. Why was River there? And more importantly, what was he doing that made Brit afraid? I’d kill him if he tormented her in any way.

  When a hand skirted around my waist, I screeched and lifted my head. When I heard a slight cracking sound, I turned and covered my mouth in shock. “Oh, Noah. I’m so sorry. You just…you just scared me.”

  Massaging his nose and checking for blood, Noah tried to smile. “It’s okay. I’ll just remember not to sneak up on you again.”