Avenger: A Halflings Novel Part 8

"Things can change in a heartbeat, baby."

She grabbed his upper arms. "Raven, don't joke about that, okay?"

Yes, his eyes had lightened. When Raven began the journey to keep Nikki alive, his eyes were nearly black, a sign he was shifting to the darker side of his nature. A side she made him no longer crave. "Everyone is one breath away from choosing evil, Nikki. For me, it's just a shorter trip."

She didn't like hearing him talk like that, he could tell. Well, too bad. It was a fact. If Nikki really had chosen Mace, what did he have to live for, anyway? To fight for?

Tears welled in her eyes, and she tilted her chin back to hide them.

Raven forced out a long breath. If she only knew what that combination of fearlessness and fragility did to him. "The lock was rusty."

Her tears ceased. "What?"

"On the metal door at the museum. The door was rusted around the lock. That's how I could rip it open."

"So, you didn't tear metal?"

"No. We're strong enough to bend metal, but rip it open? Not likely."

Her eyes narrowed, but a smile was teasing at the corner of her mouth. "Why'd you tell me?"

He shrugged and stood. "Seemed like the right thing to do."

Nikki tugged on his pant leg until he reached down to help her from the ground. "See, Raven? You're not nearly as close to the abyss as you think you are."

He wished that was true. "Come on, let's go to a concert."

The pounding thud of both ba.s.s guitar and drum took turns vibrating Nikki's lungs. "Really loud," she said, cupping her hands over her ears.

Raven was leading her around a hallway that ran the length of the stage. "You're a Halfling. The more you tap in, the stronger your senses are."

Tapping in - the full realization of her power and ability - would be nice, especially if that ushered the arrival of wings. Nikki shrugged her shoulders up and down a few times. No. Nothing felt different.

Raven skid to a stop and looked down at her from his six-foot-plus stance. "Don't worry, you'll get them soon enough."

Embarra.s.sment warmed her cheeks.

"I love this song," he said.

Nikki listened a moment. Yeah, she'd always liked it too, but a few decibels quieter. Something about the look in his eyes made her happy inside. His eyes. Those round lakes of fervency and fire that could turn velvet soft in an instant. So many emotions could traipse across their diameter, it seemed wrong not to give them a few moments attention.

The light in the hallway was dim, only adding to his persistence. Yes, that was the other thing about his eyes. Whether they were studying the terrain for escape, sorting details necessary for conquest, or stopping her heartbeat with their softness, those eyes held more persistence than some armies. Suddenly, she felt bad for the way she'd treated him earlier. Raven was Raven, and part of what made him that was his determination - even in pursuing her. She'd warned him to stop or she'd leave, and he stopped. Very contrary to his nature. But, he'd done it. For her.

Always for her.

He didn't come any closer, but somehow the moment felt more intimate than it had seconds ago. His eyes closed, shutting off that well of optic emotion. He breathed deep. When he spoke, his words were soft as silk and far away. "The first time I heard it on the radio, I'd been out snow skiing in the Swiss Alps. I returned to the ski lodge, and it had been ..." His eyes snapped open and looked not so much at her, but through her, like he was reliving a beautiful memory through her irises. "I don't know, it had been, like, a perfect day."

He exhaled and her mouth went dry, because she realized as he talked he'd had very few of those kinds of days.

"The sun was just coming up, and it washed everything in gold; the lodge, the mountains, even the snow. I'd found some untouched powder on a mountain I'd never noticed, and -"

"And you claimed it as your own."

He blinked himself fully from that moment and fully into the present.

"Yes." That was all he said. And it was enough.

"I've never snow skied."

"I'll take you."

Nikki felt something smooth run over the back of her hand and glanced down. Somehow, their fingers had interlocked. "Kiddie slope, please."

He moved toward her, but only marginally. The kind of move that could be a press of gentle wind, or the twitch of a muscle ... or the motion of a man trying to keep his distance.

"You have eternity, now, Nikki. You're a Halfling."

Yeah, eternity if someone didn't murder her. Unfortunately, she seemed to attract the murderous types. But it wasn't that part of his words that snagged her attention. You're a Halfling. Eternity she would spend with her match. Mace. Or Raven. She'd been so sure, so certain, but now ...

Well, now, Raven was doing the one thing she didn't need him to do, and it was the one thing she'd asked him to do. Step back. Give her s.p.a.ce. Stop pushing.

In his normal state, he was way too c.o.c.ky, way too cute, and way too irresistible.

But this was worse.

He'd stripped all that, and she was getting a glimpse at the man beneath the ultra-cool exterior. And she liked what she saw.

"It's about us, you know."

Nikki frowned, hoping he hadn't caught a glimpse into her mind.

He nodded above. "The song. Spreading your wings, you reach the horizon. My heart feels like it's gonna die. You disappear into the morning and once again I cry. As you fly."

"It's about Halflings?"

Raven winked. "Well, she claims it's about me, but I'm not the only Halfling Kaylyn has ever known."

Arrogant Raven was back in full form and sort of shattering the moment. Nikki threw out a breath. She turned and headed deeper down the hall. "This song is not about you," she grumbled.

After a series of twists and turns, they reached a backstage door guarded by a guy dressed in a black T-shirt with the words EVENT CREW written in tall yellow letters. It may as well have said STOP.

Raven didn't seem to care. "I'm here to see Kaylyn."

The guy's eyes widened for an instant, then he laughed. "Yeah, you and about six thousand other fans."

"I'm not a fan, I'm a friend." Raven pointed to the black walkie talkie on the guy's waist. "Call back and find out."

Off to the right, a wall hid the stage. That didn't stop gorilla man from motioning toward it. "Kaylyn is still onstage, so why don't you go on out and watch the show."

He was very persistent. Very persuasive. And wasn't about to budge. He did that typical cross-the-arms-over-the-chest-and-spread-the-stance-a-little thing guys always used as a way of saying, "I'm not moving." Was that supposed to deter Raven?

"Get Kevin Finley on your radio before I use it to ..."

Nikki's hand against Raven's arm stopped the words. Thank goodness. "Raven, we can just wait. Maybe when she's off stage, he won't mind calling back to clear us."

The guy laughed again, sending a streak of anger down her back. "Yeah, I'm sure I'm gonna do that."

Maybe it was the fact that the big guy made fun of her, maybe it was that Raven just didn't want to wait anymore, but he struck forward and back-fisted gorilla man in the face. She watched in silence as his knees gave way and he folded. Raven caught him on the way down.

Chapter 8.

"Will's move works well."

Nikki closed her mouth. "Was that really necessary?"

"Nikki, you're running from a creature that has already killed others to try to get to you. I'm not worried about steroid boy's b.l.o.o.d.y nose. Occupational hazard."

She rolled her eyes as he took her hand to help her step over the clump of muscle ma.s.s in the doorway.

Once inside, no one seemed to care that they were there. They pa.s.sed a crew of three guys carrying wound black cords. Nikki waited for one of the guys to yell at them, but no one spoke.

Raven stopped after they pa.s.sed by and turned to flag them down. "Hey, you know where I can find Kevin Finley?"

"Green room, down the hall" one said, and they walked on.

Nikki placed a hand on her chest. "You almost gave me a heart attack. We aren't supposed to be back here, Raven. Don't draw attention to us. Or if you're going to, warn me first."

"Warn you when I'm gonna speak?"

She sank a fist into his shoulder. When two girls pa.s.sed by, Nikki dropped her head.

"Stop acting like a thief. n.o.body cares that we're back here. Just act normal."

Nikki broke from Raven and stood with her hands propped on her waist. Normal. Riiiight.

"Just act like you belong here, okay?"

She let out a huff as he grabbed her hand and dragged her into a room that was, surprisingly, green.

"Raven!" A thirty-something guy jumped off the white leather couch and came at them. Nikki shrunk back a little, tugging on Raven's arm.

Two seconds later, the two guys were in one of those slap-on-the-back bro hugs. "How are you? What are you doing here? Is Kaylyn in danger?"

Raven shook his head. "No, nothing like that. We just need to see her."

The guy Nikki a.s.sumed had to be Kevin flashed a frown. "You have any trouble getting back here?"

"I sort of had to knock out the guy at the west door. He'll wake up soon, might need his nose reset. So the door's been unguarded for a couple of minutes."

Kevin nodded and yelled over his shoulder, "Mike, go relieve Ben." He looked back over to Raven. "It's an obscure door anyway. Ben's a new guy."

"Some initiation," Raven said, and introduced Nikki to Kevin, who turned out to be Kaylyn's manager.

"You guys look hungry." He led them deeper into the room, which had cleared out when Kevin made a show of waving his arms. A table ran the length of one wall and offered trays of sandwiches, veggies and dip, fruit impaled by little decorated toothpicks, a warming dish filled with meatb.a.l.l.s that smelled like heaven, and an array of bottled drinks - everything from Perrier water to IBC root beer. "Help yourselves. I'll get Kaylyn as soon as she's off stage."

"Cool, thanks."

Raven started to reach for a plate, but turned to Nikki instead. "Go sit. I'll make you something to eat."

I guess that will work. She shuffled back toward the door and sank onto the couch. A huge mistake, as it must have been covered in sleeping powder - the cushion all but folded her up in overstuffed luxury. She watched Raven turn his attention to the food, but the moment she let out a long, surrendering sigh, he was beside her.

Bending at the waist, he slipped off her shoes and swept her feet onto the soft white leather. A throw blanket decorated the oversized chair in the corner, and Nikki watched through half-lidded eyes as he shook it a couple of times before draping it over her body. An instant later, everything was dark, and safe, and warm. But a song about wings and the horizon played in her head.

She woke to voices. Kevin and Raven stood over her. She was pretty sure they'd been whispering for a while, but had grown comfortable once they realized she was asleep, their voices rising with their conversation. She peered through her lashes.

Raven looked good. Fed. Awake. But lying there, Nikki felt uncomfortable. Should she continue to pretend she's asleep? Or just hop up and say, "Hey, sorry I happened to wake up and am now interrupting your private conversation"? But then the smell of meatb.a.l.l.s. .h.i.t her nose and she decided waking was better than starving.

She stretched and yawned - just to give them a little forewarning - then blinked her eyes to chase out the remaining sleep.

"Good morning," they both said.

She hugged the blanket and sat up.

The two guys chuckled, and Raven stepped over to smooth her hair. She reached up, felt the tangle, and decided to die of embarra.s.sment right there. "You guys weren't supposed to let a family of gerbils nest on my head."

Kevin grinned. "It doesn't look like a family -"

Raven cut him off. "No, just a couple rodents." His cheek quirked in a one-sided smile and he winked.

How charming.

"I'll take that plate now," Nikki said to Raven.

Kevin stumbled back. "Oh, sleeping beauty has a bite."

"No," she corrected. "Sleeping beauty has an appet.i.te."

Raven waved a pair of tongs from the cheese tray at Kevin. "She's also got a killer right hook, so watch your mouth."

Kevin offered her a hand up from the couch. "Well, if she's hanging around with you, she needs to know how to defend herself."