The Fighter (Book 1)

Chapter 18

I found my clothes in the bathroom floor where I left them, and grabbed the small vial from the pocket of my shorts. I rushed back up the stairs, setting the vial on the counter. “This’ll summon him.”

Gabriel examined the vial and I watched him with hope that it would work. “This’ll work fine and dandy, but I’m not a witch, Treble.”

“You’re looking at one,” I shrugged my shoulders. “Part of one, anyway.”

“Right. Savior,” he chuckled, handing me the vial. “It’s one word. Nectere. Means-”

“To bind,” I finished. “Yeah, I was in Latin.”

I poured out a drop onto the floor, saying my one word when Fifteen appeared in front of me. He frowned at me, white eyes shocking in the low light of the candles. “Really, Treble? Really?”

“We have a question.”

“You’re marrying the son of a bitch?” the Incubus laughed, nodding at my hand. I nodded slowly, irritated. “Okay, shoot. What’s your question?”

“How do we know we can trust you? We need hard evidence now. Not just gonna slide by with me being as passive as I am,” I hopped up on the counter. “We’ve got God in the situation now.”

“Don’t call me that, Treble,” Gabriel griped. I rolled my eyes. The Incubus smiled gently at me, standing stiffly.

“What do you want me to do to prove it?”

“Whatever it takes,” Zack said harshly. Fifteen smirked at me, biting his lip and winking at me. I felt Zack’s eyes on me as he watched my reaction.

“Calm down,” I leaned down to kiss his forehead. His eyes were black and he gripped my hands in his. “Take a break. You probably need it.”

“If I’m leaving, you’re coming with me,” he said softly, eyes melting blue again.

“He’s in invisible chains, and there are three other people in the room, Zack,” I sighed. “Please just trust me for once.”

“I do,” he groaned in frustration. “This conversation isn’t over, okay?”

“Figured not,” I shook my head as he left the room and stormed down the stairs to his room.

“That’s one fine specimen of man you’ve got there,” Fifteen chuckled. “Bet you can’t wait to bind your soul to that.”

“Burn in hell, and get us the evidence,” I snapped and jumped off the counter. Gabriel had no further input, and I said the new spell to release him.

“He should get the evidence before burning in hell,” Taylor giggled. “I heard it’s a slow process.”

“I’m sorry; did you want to be next?” Taylor cowered under my glare, shaking his head quickly. “This is such a mess,” I shook my head.

“Just go and talk to him,” Gabriel rubbed my shoulder. “We can’t talk anymore until we either do or do not have evidence of trust in our hands from the Incubus.”

“I’ll let you know if I find anything out,” I said before descending into Zack’s room. The door to the porch was open and his clothes were in a pile by the door. I stepped outside, silently since he had the jets on. He didn’t notice since he was stretching his arms over his head and covering his eyes.

I stepped behind him, pressing my thumbs into his tight shoulders. He flinched at the contact, but eased into my touch.

“That was a short-lived engagement,” he mumbled, folding his arms over his chest and trying to shrink himself.