Strange Love 46 Numb The Pain

"You know you've washed that same gla.s.s for a good 10 minutes straight, right?" Liam asked. He stood behind the bar with Raven, eyebrow raised, arms crossed, with his hip propped against the counter.

"Hum? What was that?" Raven shook herself mentally.

"You seemed oddly out of it today." Liam stood up the drama from earlier sobering him. He took the gla.s.s from her hand and began drying it. "You want to talk?"

Raven glanced up at him then back down at the remaining gla.s.ses in the sink. "No, not really… same s.h.i.+t different day." She glanced back up at him, "Do you ever feel like all h.e.l.l is breaking loose and all you're gonna be able to do is get dragged down with it?"

Liam looked down at her in concern, "No, but of course my life isn't nearly as exciting as yours has been lately."

Before Raven could respond to Liam, the familiar smell of sea foam and sandalwood wafted past her. She threw up one hand, magic pouring out invisible waves. "Speak of it and so it shall be…." She rolled her eyes before turning her head toward the door. "Or some horse s.h.i.+t like that. h.e.l.lo Orion, how nice of you to show your face here." Sarcasm oozed out in nearly as strong waves as her magic.

"Shouldn't you conserve your magic?" He pushed against the waves of magic holding him back but was only able to advance by a step. Only slightly disturbed he continued, "Isn't it hard for you to maintain this level of power so far away from home?"

Raven walked slowly toward the end of the bar, keeping all her power focused on the intruder. "Wouldn't you like to know. Why are you here Orion? I know the council couldn't have possibly sent you in response to my call."

He smiled as he pushed forward another step, "I already know all that is needed about you, Dear. Such a pity really, the more powerful a being is the more restricted they are in using their abilities. Like the genie to his lamp." His smile widened as he took another step, this time with more ease. He could feel her power beginning to weaken. "You need not worry. You know exactly why I'm here."

Raven finally dropped her hand. She could feel the tiring effects of using her powers begin to set in. "I actually know a Gen and I'm pretty sure he's not restricted to a lamp."

Orion shrugged a cunning smile turning up his lips, "To his cuffs then, or did you not notice them either?" He walked over to the bar with a wide powerful gait. He pulled out a bar stool before sitting down and looking over at Liam who could only stare in shock at the exchange. "Are you not the bartender?"

Liam quickly snapped out of his daze and nodded his head 'yes'.

"Then I'll have whiskey on the rocks, please," Orion said before he turned his attention back to Raven. "I'm surprised you didn't sense my presence in this town sooner."

Raven crossed her arms over her chest fighting against the fatigue that was setting in. "What can I say, working here I'm used to smelling sea trash." She gave him a calculative squint, "I a.s.sumed they sent you here since you were already in the area…" She stepped forward and planted her palms on the bar in front of him. "What has it been Orion, three…. Four months already?" she glared over the bar at him. "The twins are barely of age and yet the council has called their dogs in."

He shrugged, "With good reason so it would seem. One pup is missing and the other is sitting out on the deck in one h.e.l.l of a state of drunken heartache."

Liam set the gla.s.s down and slid it across the bar, "If you don't mind, I'm heading out. This doesn't seem like the kind of conversation I want to be a part of." He glared over at Orion. "Shouldn't you be more cautious who you talk around?"

Orion shrugged again, "These matters are not for the mundane…. But you aren't mundane either, are you?"

Liam shot Raven a worried glance. She nodded for him to leave before turning her attention back to the mammoth of a man before her. "What do you want Orion? Are you here to help or not?"

He leaned back on the bar stool, "Help… for now…"

Anger rose within Raven as she struggled to contain her rage, "What do you mean 'for now'?"

"Your friend is simply too dangerous, this needs to be contained now," Orion said matter-of-factly. "I've seen enough to know the two of them are having a relations.h.i.+p."

Raven dug her nails into the bar, "What is your point?"

Orion took a large drink from his cup, "My point is, such a dangerous creature doesn't need to be loose in such a heavily populated area, let alone embarking on such a volatile… romance…" He struggled to find the best word to describe what he had witnessed. When Raven opened her mouth to protest, he raised his hand to silence her as he continued, "There will be fatalities and when that happens you know as well as I, imprisonment will be the minimal punishment."

Raven bit her lip, "You weren't sent here by the council, were you?" She pushed away from the bar, her anger temporarily subsiding.

Orion took another large drink, "What makes you ask that? You just said yourself, you called them."

Raven sent him a skeptical glare, "Why don't you tell me why you're really here first."

Orion looked around the room before returning his gaze back to her, "I was sent some time ago by my father to investigate the numerous murders in this area and now, after my reports, my father's interests seem to be more about what goes on inside your apartment verse outside its walls." He crossed his arm over his chest before adding, "You and your friends resent involvement with the heads of the vampire clan has spiked more than just father's interests, however. So upon your call, I was contacted and instructed to confirm everything father had already suspected and report back to the council on it." He crossed his ma.s.sive arms over his chest.

Raven shook her head, "I have no idea what you are talking about."

He arched his brow at her. "Really? Are you denying any involvement with the DeMarco family?" He arched a brow at her before adding, "Was that not Xavier DeMarco I just saw leaving with our little lover girl?"

Tears streamed freely down Joslyn's face as she stared out the window, watching as the world around her faded into an intertwining blur of pitch black and blinding flashes of light. Only after the car slowed and turned, did she realized they had made it back to Xavier's house. She wiped at her tear stained checks as the car pulled smoothly into the garage. Xavier shut off the car, then wordlessly got out and made his way around to her side. He opened the door and waited for her to exit. Her body fought against her, as she moved toward the door sluggishly until her knees finally buckled under her weight. Xavier caught her and lifted her into his arms. She buried her face into the soft fabric of his s.h.i.+rt as the tears began to seep from her eyes again.

He carried her into the living room and set her gently on the large sofa, before turning and walking into the kitchen. He returned moments later with a gla.s.s of water in his hand. He handed it down toward her, "Here take this, I don't want you to get dehydrated." He said softly as her swollen eyes stared blankly at the gla.s.s he held out toward her.

She looked from the gla.s.s to his face, "Got anything stronger?"

He sighed as he pushed the gla.s.s into her hands, "Drink this first. I'll go see what I can find." Xavier disappeared into the kitchen again this time returning with 2 gla.s.ses and a bottle of Champagne. He shrugged his shoulders as he sat down beside her and began filling her gla.s.s. "Sorry, it's the best I could do. I'm not a big drinker."

"It's fine." She said as she took the gla.s.s from him.

Xavier set back against the seat after pouring himself a gla.s.s. He took a sip as he glanced over at her. "I'm sorry about earlier. I can't imagine…" he let his words trail off.

Joslyn let her eyes travel over him. He was slumped in a relaxed fas.h.i.+on against the sofa, his untouched gla.s.s dangling between his spread legs. Her eyes traveled from his full gla.s.s, up to his torso to his gla.s.ses covered eyes. He met her gaze throw the light tenting of the gla.s.ses a confused expression playing across his face.

"Aren't you going to try it?" Xavier asked, in a hope of breaking the tension around them. The strange urea surrounding her gave him an uneasy feeling.

Joslyn nodded her head, before kicking back the gla.s.s and finis.h.i.+ng the entire content in one swift chug. She sat up leaning closer to him. He watched as she reached out over his leg and took the gla.s.s from his hands. She kicked his gla.s.s back in one hurried chug as well, before setting both gla.s.ses on the table in front of them. He watched as she turned back toward him and leaned over his body, studying his face. "Um…" Before he could think of anything to say, she gently removed the gla.s.ses from his face and set them down on the table as well. This time when she turned back toward him, their eyes met. He quickly turned away as he whispered, "This isn't a good idea."