Above The Flames (The Flames Trilogy #1) Page 9

  Chapter 10

  Information

  Jasmine

  Jasmine’s face was hot as she stomped up the stairs. The things Amon said had been infuriating, and she didn’t like that he thought so little of her. What really made her mad, though, was the fact that he was right. She wanted to go after Bael, stop him from succeeding in his plan, but she had no clue how her power even worked, let alone how to control it. Or what she could do with it half the time. It had a mind of its own, and although she’d been very lucky so far, she knew that if she had a weak moment, any weak moment, that her power would take hold and she would have no say in who it hurt. Her gift was too strong, and until she could rein it in, she’d have to lay low. But when she learned how to use it properly, the first demon she’d be going after was Bael.

  Jasmine didn’t realize where her feet had taken her until she pushed the door to Beau’s room open. It was a typical man cave. Pictures of nearly naked Sports Illustrated models hung on his dark gray walls. She knew that if he had a choice between one of the bathing suit models and her, he’d pick her every time. So she didn’t care about the pictures. Not much, anyway. Not much. Although, how he found someone who looked like her attractive after pining for these ladies confused her.

  Beau was waiting for her when she walked through the door. She hadn’t even gotten the door closed before he said, “So, you make it a habit to let other guys know you’re there for them, right in front of your boyfriend?”

  He held his hands in fists at his side, and his nostrils flared, but the reaction was so quick Jasmine thought she might have imagined it.

  She took a deep breath. “Beau, you need to calm down.”

  “I don’t think I do.” He stepped closer, putting his hands on her shoulders and making her look at him. “You are my girlfriend, Jasmine. Not his. You should be there for me, not him.”

  “Okay. Do you even realize how much of a two-year-old you sound like? Honestly. This guy has been locked in Hell for a long time, and I thought it would be nice to offer some kindness to him.” She moved her shoulders and broke Beau’s hold, moving back. “And if you haven’t realized this by now, I have my own mind. I won’t be told what to do by a man, not ever. So if you think you are going to control me, think again.”

  Beau’s eyebrows rose. “What are you talking about?”

  “If you can’t figure that out, I’m not sure this is ever going to work.”

  “Let’s just throw the breakup card around, huh? It makes things so much better.” Beau raised his voice, and Jasmine hushed him, not wanting the others to hear their argument.

  Her arms shook as anger coursed through her. “The jealousy has to stop. I’m not sure why you are so insecure, but it’s driving a wedge between us. Have I ever given you a reason to think I would cheat on you? Have I?” She couldn’t keep her voice low with the emotions rolling through her like waves, which started slow and built up fast.

  “No, but everywhere we go guys are looking at you, talking to you. Why do you think I always take you places we can be alone?”

  “So you think it’s okay to just hide me away from people because you’re jealous?”

  “I’m not jealous. I’m sc—” Beau stopped flat, looked at the ground, and then gazed back at her, his eyes soft. “I’m scared I’m not good enough for you.”

  Jasmine’s heart warmed at his honesty. She walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He embraced her as well, and she rested her chin on his chest so she could look up at him. “Beau, you are good enough for me. I love you just the way you are. I just can’t take these crazy tantrums you throw. You have to learn to have faith in me, to trust me. If you can’t, it will ruin us.”

  Beau frowned. “I know, and I try, but it just takes over. I can’t stop it sometimes. I get so crazy!”

  “I know.” She rubbed her fingertips lightly up and down his sides. “You just have to find something that helps you calm down. I think I’m going to be working with these guys to stop the demons. I mean, they haven’t really said, but…”

  “It’s cool. I’ll deal with it, and not go crazy Beau anymore.”

  “Good. Because I’d hate to have to kick your ass.”

  Beau smiled. “I’d like to see you try.”

  Jasmine felt the grin spread across her face. “Anytime.”

  Beau tackled her before she could even think, landing on top of her. She laughed, the sound muffled because his weight made it hard to breathe. His fingers went to her sides and tickled her, and she squirmed and tried to wiggle from underneath of him, but it was no use. She angled her head up, her lips tracing the line of Beau’s neck. She took in the familiar scent of citrus and baby powder. Beau’s smell. Beau stiffened, then lightly pushed her down so her back rested on the blue carpet. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers.

  The kiss probably only lasted a minute, but goosebumps lined Jasmine’s arms when Beau pulled back and said, “You really can make me crazy, you know.”

  “I think that’s what love does,” Jasmine said, remembering how her mother acted with her dad.

  “Let’s go to bed. You want to sleep in here?” Beau asked.

  Jasmine raised one eyebrow. “And when you say sleep, do you mean sleep? Or…”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yes, I mean sleep. We’ve all had crazy days. I think sleep is all we need to be doing right now.”

  The minute she crawled into bed, her body withered like an old flower and her eyes drooped. Fatigue hit her hard. She hadn’t realized how much she just wanted to sleep. When her head hit the pillow, Beau wrapped his strong arms around her and she let herself close her eyes. Images floated through the darkness, of blood red eyes and death. She inched back into Beau, letting his warmth wrap around her until the nightmares receded and she finally fell asleep.

  The next morning Jasmine woke to a pounding on the door.

  “Rise and shine!” a cheerful voice said.

  Jasmine rolled to her side and groaned. “Go away!”

  She covered her face with the blanket. For once, she’d been sleeping soundly, no bad dreams creeping through her mind. Of course somebody would wake her up. She really wasn’t in the mood.

  “Come on. I know you’re tired, but the big bad boss wants a word with you guys.”

  Jasmine sat straight up. Boss? What was he talking about?

  She pushed off the bed with her hands and stood, stumbling to the door. When she yanked it open, Caim’s dark eyes smiled at her. “Good morning, sleepyhead. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He stood on his tiptoes and peeked over her shoulder.

  She rose up on her own toes and leaned to block him. “Nope. Not a thing. What’s this about a boss?”

  Caim grinned. “Ah. That would be Amon. But don’t worry; he’s not really the boss. Just thinks he is.” He winked. “You know how it is.”

  Jasmine found herself grinning. She kind of liked Caim. He definitely had a sense of humor, which they needed right about now.

  But if Amon took charge, Jasmine was sure she’d be dealing with more of Beau’s jealousy, and she’d had about all of that she could take. Playing referee didn’t sound like a fun job, not when there might be a war brewing in the streets.

  Caim was staring. Hard. Oh yeah, he asked me a question.

  “We’ll be right down. Just got to get Beau up, and get dressed.”

  The corners of Caim’s mouth tilted upward. “Okay, but Amon doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” He paused, turned, and started to walk away. Laughing, he said, “So take all the time you need.”

  Jasmine stifled a laugh. This guy’s a hoot.

  “Guess we gotta head downstairs, huh?” Beau asked, and Jasmine jumped, startled by the deep baritone of his voice.

  “Wow. It almost sounded like you were talking through a microphone.”

  “Funny, Jaz.”

  Beau hopped up and stretched his arms over his head. Then he lumbered to her, grabbing the purple shirt she wore. His
fingers grazed her skin, making goosebumps break out along her sides. He plastered a sexy come-hither smile on his pale red lips. “Does Amon always get what he wants? I could think of a much better way to spend our morning.” He leaned down, his lips pressing against hers, and he nudged her mouth open with his tongue.

  Jasmine pushed against his chest, feeling like a jerk, but morning breath had never been her thing. Beau looked hurt though, so she covered it up quickly as she said, “They’re waiting. We have to hurry.”

  Beau tried again, leaning down and touching their lips together, tracing his fingers along her stomach. Jasmine shoved him away a little too hard. “We need to find out what’s going on. I think that’s more important right now.”

  Beau scowled. “Fine. Guess we know what’s important to you. Amon and his band of merry men.”

  “There’s a woman too. So you can’t use that one. Just put some clothes on and let’s go. You don’t need to make everything personal.”

  He closed his mouth and stomped to his dresser. He made his selection quickly and took the pile of clothes out the door. “I’ll change in the bathroom.”

  “Great. Then I’ll see you downstairs.”

  Since she didn’t have any clothes, she grabbed a gray t-shirt and a pair of drawstring shorts and put them on. The shorts were too big, but she got them tight enough by tying them. She hurried downstairs, not wanting to miss getting the answers she needed. Right now, she had very little understanding of why the demons were here, and what they really wanted. Sure, she knew they wanted some kind of war, but why?

  When she entered the family room, Amon stood by the coffee table, smacking the remote against his palm. “How does this blasted thing work?”

  Jasmine placed her hand over her mouth as a giggle escaped. Amon jerked his head up, looking at her like a deer in headlights.

  “Sorry,” she said. “But what are you doing?”

  Amon’s cheeks reddened. “What is this thing? It has all these buttons, but none of them do anything.”

  Jasmine walked over to him and held her hand out. “It’s a remote, for the TV.”

  “TV?” He put the remote in her hand.

  “Yeah, the black box behind you. This,” she pointed it at the screen and pushed the green button, “turns it on so you can watch shows or movies. Whatever you want.”

  Amon turned around, his jaw dropping. “How did those people get inside there?”

  Jasmine laughed a little too loudly. “They aren’t actually in there. They record the video and air it on whatever channel they work for.”

  “Channel?”

  “I think this might be a bit complicated for you right now. Maybe we should save this lesson for another day.”

  Amon narrowed his eyes. “Are you saying I’m not smart enough for this?”

  “No, not at all.” She sighed. “Just chill out, okay?”

  Amon’s puzzled look floored her. “Why would I want to ‘chill out’? I don’t want to be cold.”

  Beau scoffed behind her. “Wow, you really don’t know a thing, do you?”

  Amon took a step forward. Jasmine stepped between the two of them. “All right, both of you cool it.” She looked at Beau over her shoulder. “You need to stop. Obviously, Amon hasn’t been in this world for a long time, so of course he doesn’t know everything about it. It’s bound to be a learning experience for him.” She gazed at Amon. “And don’t mind Beau. He just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

  “What side would that be?”

  Jasmine stifled a laugh. “It’s just an expression. He’s just grumpy. In a bad mood. You know, not in the best spirits.”

  Amon nodded. “Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.”

  As the guys glared at each other, Jasmine blew out a breath. “All right. Beau, go take a seat somewhere. And Amon, what is it you needed us for?”

  Gemma and Cole strolled through the open entrance, followed by Caim and Lamia.

  “Once everyone is here, we will begin.”

  “Okay, guess I’ll sit down, then,” Jasmine said.

  She chose the couch, next to Beau, who wrapped his arm around her. Even though she knew he was only laying claim to her, she let him.

  “Oh, good. Azzy. It’s about time you showed up.” Amon moved to stand in front of the TV. Everyone stood toward the back of the room except Beau and Jasmine. It made Jasmine feel like she wasn’t part of the group, but was the outsider. That had to change. They would all need to stick together in the days to come. At least if Bael hung around.

  “I wanted to give you some information about what is happening.” Amon paused a moment, then cleared his throat. “The demons have risen because they won the war against the angels. This has been going on as long as I can remember. One faction would take a step forward, then be thrust backward by the other. There were rewards set depending on which faction won this war. When the angels set this up, I don’t think they ever thought the demons would win, but their prize for victory was their freedom.”

  “What?” Cole asked. “Are you serious?”

  Amon nodded. “I’m afraid I am very serious. Now, they will do anything in their power to take this world as their own. In order to do that, they will have to wipe out the humans who reside here. Otherwise it will never be their own.”

  Jasmine’s heartbeat quickened. “What about the angels? Can’t they stop this?”

  “They were just defeated by the demons, Jasmine. Fighting is probably beyond their abilities at the moment, but I haven’t spoken to an angel in a long time, so I could be wrong. We will see if any show up.”

  “So what can we do, then? How do we stop them?” Gemma asked, taking a step forward.

  “We do the only thing we can do. We fight the demons. Try to stop them.”

  “What if we can’t?” Jasmine asked, her voice breaking.

  “I don’t know how to fight. I’ve never even thrown a punch,” Gemma said loudly.

  “That is where we come in. You all have powers, which is why Bael wanted to use you. We will train you, one on one, to make sure you know how to fight. We will also try to help you learn your powers,” Amon said. “We will pair up. Jasmine, you are with me.”

  Beau stiffened beside her.

  “Cole, Caim will help you. Beau, you are paired with Lamia, and Gemma with Azzy. Any questions?”

  Beau stood up. “This girl is going to train me to fight? Sorry, but I don’t think she can teach me what I need to learn.”

  Lamia moved so quick Jasmine didn’t see her until she had Beau pressed against the wall, her hand around his throat. Lamia lifted him off the ground until his feet dangled above it. He brought his hands up, trying to loosen Lamia’s grip, but it didn’t move an inch. Beau’s face turned beet red.

  “This girl knows a lot of things that your infant brain hasn’t even begun to understand yet. I would advise you learn to keep your mouth shut. Also, perhaps you shouldn’t be so judgmental.”

  Beau moved his head up and down quickly, still pulling at Lamia’s hands. She released him and he slid down the wall. Then he bent over, grasping his knees, breathing heavily.

  “We will begin training now. Everyone pair up.”

  Jasmine moved to stand beside Amon. When he started walking away, she followed him out the back door, ready to start her first lesson. Hopefully it would be a good one.

  Chapter 11

  Training

  The morning sun shone high in the sky as they entered the humongous backyard. A white fence surrounded it, blocking off the view from the neighbors. Jasmine had spent many a day lounging with Beau on the tile patio, reading a book by the fire pit. Unfortunately, today was not a day for lounging. The yard would be a perfect place to train, the grass providing a natural cushion underneath them.

  Jasmine stopped a moment. “So where do we train, boss?”

  “We don’t need to pick a spot yet.” Amon turned to address the whole group. “Fallen angels, you can pick what direction you’d like to take your
training sessions. Just make sure that your student knows the basics of fighting by the end. Spread out. There’s plenty of room back here.”

  Jasmine raised her eyebrows. “So, why don’t we need a spot again?”

  “Because,” Amon leaned down and smiled, “we will be doing some warm up exercises first.”

  Amon guided Jasmine by the small of her back, his hand spearing heat through her shirt. She shivered, then moved away from him, not at all comfortable with him touching her yet. He didn’t seem bothered, he kept moving until they were at the back of the fence, then he sat down on the grass.

  “We will stretch,” Amon said.

  Jasmine flopped down to join him, sticking one leg out and bending her body the length of it to touch her toes. The back of her knee burned, indicating just how long it’d been since she’d stretched. Life had seemed to take over, leaving little time to exercise. Which wasn’t an excuse, only a reason. The burn intensified until she couldn’t take it anymore, so she switched legs. After that, she put both legs together, leaning to reach the end. Now both of her knees were burning, as well as her thighs.

  Amon stood, and she followed, grabbing hold of her foot and bending it up, pulling as she did. Amon followed suit, mimicking exactly what Jasmine did with each different stretch. She found that strange, since he was supposed to be the trainer. Maybe he wasn’t the boss after all.

  “Now,” Amon said, “we run.”

  “Run? That’s the big bad training you have in store?”

  “Run the length of this yard. Your stamina has to be at its best if you want to beat a demon. They will be stronger and faster than you. And they won’t tire as easily. So, go.”

  Jasmine placed her hands on her hips. “And you get to stand here and do nothing? Sounds fair.”

  Amon smiled. “No, I will chase you. That way you can practice outrunning your enemy.”

  “Fan-fricking-tastic,” Jasmine said, scratching her head as she stared at his long legs. She took off, the wet grass causing the rubber soles of her sneakers to squeak.

  The warm air seemed to wrap around her as she pumped her arms. Loud footsteps pounded the ground right behind her, so she dug down and pushed harder, forcing her legs to go quicker. A burn in her lungs had her panting, so she took deep breaths, making sure to blow each one out. It had been a while, but she remembered when she used to run in track, breathing was very important. The smell of fresh cut grass hit her hard as she risked a look behind her. Amon’s arms pumped up and down as he tried to catch her. Which wouldn’t be hard, considering he was already right on her tail.