What Lies Beneath

We had to stop driving after a while. The boys were tired, and we all wanted to be rested for whatever was coming for us. We were all stuck in one room in a gross motel. Jaxon had fun messing with us as we sat in our separate bed. It was his way of compensating for the fact that he had to share a room with a new couple. He didn't appreciate the spooning. At least Landon had worn pants.

"I'm showering," Jaxon announced, waking me up. "Maybe you fiends can knock it off while I'm gone."

I think he was referring to the fact that Landon was sleeping on me again. I guess it was the only way to cuddle with someone who slept on her stomach most of the time. It was that, or I'd just sleep on top of him. I doubted he'd mind, but Jaxon would.

Landon tickled my side before he kissed my shoulder and got off me. I kept my eyes closed, listening to him getting ready. He'd showered just five hours ago, so he only needed to get dressed before he was ready. When I finally got the energy to open my eyes, Landon was buttoning up his shirt.

He sat beside me on the bed and rubbed my back. "Time to get up, darlin'."

I moved onto my back, and his hand went to my ribs. "I don't wanna leave this room. What if one of us doesn't come back?"

He bent down and kissed my forehead. "Not happening. We've already been through hell. That means the good stuff is due."

I held his hand. "I really wish that was how this worked." I turned his palm over and started tracing lines with the tips of my fingers.

"It only works out the way we make it work out. Nothing is set in stone, and we have all the power here. Just trust me. He's only a demon. He's not invincible."

"Neither are we."

He lifted me up and set me against the bed. "Nonsense. I am very old, and I am very smart."

"Are you?" I grinned.

His eyebrow went up. "You doubt me?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. Took you weeks to let me rock you like a hurricane. Sounds kinda dumb to me."

"Hardly dumb. I was trying to be the nice guy."

"Nice guys almost never get laid."

"Obviously, since you give it up if I look at you long enough."

I gasped dramatically. "Well, I'd be happy to fix that."

"You wouldn't last a day."

I decided to punish him in a way that wasn't even kind of a punishment. I pushed him down on the bed and held him down by the shoulders, straddling him of course. For some reason, he just let me do it.

"Apologize," I commanded him.

"For what? I spoke no lie."

I sighed. "That may be true." I bent down to kiss him because he'd clearly won. And I might be kissing him every chance I got today. He held me against him, not letting me move. We only had a few minutes before Jaxon came out, and I really didn't want to get worked up when I would have to be so all damn day long.

Landon's hands started traveling, and I had to stop him. "Sweetheart," I said in the middle of a kiss, "we can't do this right now."

His hand went past the band of my shorts anyway. "I think we have a little time."

"Not enough," I said around the sensation. "Two or three minutes at best."

"We really should have gotten our own room."

"Couldn't agree more."

I let him go until I knew I would be in real trouble if I didn't stop him. I lay flat on my back, trying to remember that we were in a tiny motel, and I couldn't do anything about it.

A minute later, Jaxon walked back into the room. Landon was sitting up at the corner of our bed. He was watching my brother with what appeared to be annoyance at his existence.

"I'm getting us something to eat," Jaxon said as he walked. "Be back soon."

The second he was out the door, Landon and I looked at each other. I was quickly getting out of the bed as he reached for my hand. He took it, dragged me into the bathroom, and locked the door.

I was against the wall, off my feet in seconds. "Wanna try out that quickie-thing?"

He was already taking my clothes off. "Why not?"

****

I was happily brushing my hair in nothing but a towel as Landon watched me. As it turned out, we were bad with quickies. That was fine by me. Jaxon took a while to get back, and once he did I pretended he had no clue why Landon was in here with me.

Jaxon went back to pounding on the door. "Guuuuuuuuys! I have McDonald's. I'm all alone, and I'm going to eat your hash browns if you don't come out here."

I looked over at Landon, telling him to take care of it, only using my mind. I started dressing when he went to lean on the door. "Five minutes, you massive child."

"I'm not a child, dick. I've been potty-trained for almost ten years now."

"And standing to pee for almost five?"

I laughed as I pulled my shirt on.

"Hey," Jaxon said with hurt, "you're cruel, and all I give you is kindness. I let you screw my sister and live."

"Let?" I said before opening the door. "You couldn't stop him if you tried."

He frowned, and I pushed past him.

"Come on, Lala. Cut me a break."

I grabbed an Egg McMuffin, sat on the bed and started to eat. Landon joined me, and my brother obviously wished that we'd just stayed in the bathroom. We all ate our breakfast, and I listened to the boys volley comments back and forth. They seemed to be getting along, despite the groping and the threatening. I was just happy they didn't hate each other enough for nighttime smothering.

Jaxon got really upset when I fed Landon a bite of my sandwich. To be fair, he'd wanted to try it, and I was just being nice.

"I will take my revenge on you," Jaxon warned.

"I will always win," Landon stated casually.

"Bet me."

Landon knocked me on my back, and I made a sound of surprise. He rolled onto me and kissed me about as chaste as you can get for being squashed against me. I helped him by making kissy noises until Jaxon threw another pillow at us. Landon sat up on me and wiped his mouth. "Your sister tastes delicious by the way."

I covered my face and laughed. "Thank you, honey."

"I'm gonna kill you, honey," Jaxon said as he poked Landon's shoulder.

When Landon walked around the bed, I stood up on it. I hopped onto his back, and he carried me out to the van so that I wouldn't have to put my shoes on. He set me in the passenger seat and kissed my lips. "Are you still worried?" he asked.

"A little."

He brushed hair out of my face. "Don't be."

I smirked at him. "Yeah, you make it sound so easy."

"It is."

We packed up the van and headed to our own funeral. Neither of the boys seemed nervous at all. Damn them. Damn them and their self-confidence, cocky-but-lovable bastards.

According to the GPS, we were a few hours out from the house those men were supposed to bring us. By now, the bodies would have been found, and Knox would probably catch on that they weren't coming back to him with us in tow. There was no way he didn't know we were coming.

Jaxon started singing along with the music that was playing, putting his heart into it. He nudged me to sing along, but I just couldn't do it. He went on without me.

We'd taken our time getting ready this morning, so it had been late in the afternoon when we left. We were shooting to show up in the evening, with the hope that darkness would help us somehow. Demons couldn't see like we could, so we were counting on that advantage.

"We have a game plan for when we get there?" Jaxon asked as we moved along the empty road.

"Yeah," Landon said. "We load up with weapons and kill everything that moves."

Jaxon took a moment. "Is that it?"

"What else is there?"

Jaxon nodded. "Good point."

The drive went on, and the closer we got, the twitchier my body became. It felt strange, being like this and not feeling my heart pounding. Landon made me feel a little better about it. He said that it would turn back on for the length of any pregnancy I had. It was a comfort, knowing it was still possible for it to start working again. It made me feel less dead. Boys were luckier. Landon got his heart beating every time he and I got a little frisky. Not fair.

Jaxon started in on some story from a few years ago. I knew what he was doing. He was trying to distract me by telling Landon some silly tale. It didn't work.

Staring out the window helped some. I watched the trees rush by us and tried not to think about how scared I was.

"Ten minutes, baby," Landon said, reaching out to grab my hand.

Ten minutes left. Ten minutes to our possible deaths, and I was the only one who thought of it like that. Maybe that was a good thing. If we were going to die, they didn't need to be afraid.

When we got to the house, it was not a house. The place was more like a mansion. It was huge and all alone in a field of perfectly trimmed grass and foliage. The driveway leading up was empty of cars, but it was decorated to impress. I could picture insane parties with people in nice dresses and suits walking around. There was even a gate, wide open, like we were being invited in.

Well... here goes nothing.