Ethereal

Nina's POV

I jerked awake.

There was a funny taste in my mouth and my lips felt strangely warm. And... stuck together? I moved my head, wanting to clear the black dots in my vision, and cringed. There was this big bump on the left of my forehead. Too bad I'd just nudged it against...

I blinked, recognizing the familiar place.

It was the cafeteria. I was slumped against the lunch-station and... my arms were lifted above my head, strapped with gym rope to the rail.

Crap.

I pulled my wrists apart—but they wouldn't budge. The rope bit deeper into the sensitive skin.

"...hmh...!" Eyes bulging, I realized why in Hell's name my mouth felt glued. Someone had slapped duck tape on it.

My legs were free, but they were as much use to me in this situation as my ability.

"Nina...?" My head lifted fast despite the pounding. Aw shoot. "I can't move. I... I don't know what's going on, Sam she... she said—she told me to knock you out. And... I did." Zeke was standing no more than ten feet from where I was restrained. His hair was damp from game and winter cold, skin dripping and Jersey clinging to his body.

Something caught my eye—his shoes.

White sneakers.

The last thing I'd seen before being knocked into next week.

I fought harder to loosen the rope. He winced, eyes cast down. A little birdy whispered he'd been told to tie me up, too.

"She's not alright," he said, voice rough. "She was talking like a crazy person!"

The hiss of a door opening rang out, next, tennis shoes tapped on the floor and Samantha came into view. Her face and cheerleader outfit highlighted by the faint moon beams, coming in from a ceiling-to-floor cafeteria window. The glow was tinged with gray, making her sinister.

Her nails were the size of my thumb, her eyes were nearly blank, with just a tiny speck of brown in the middle.

Sam's mouth was contorted in a demented smile.

"You really shouldn't attack a Demon and pass up the opportunity to kill it. I was even more surprised with Lucifer, he stopped you." A laugh started a shiver up my toes. "I have no idea what he's doing here with you, or in some other body, but he's surely become a fool."

Sam's voice wasn't hers. It was distort and scratchy. Plus, she wasn't saying 'we'. A diamond blade slashed fear across my heart.

The Succubus was in complete control.

"I see your aura. Fear." She looked about to do a happy twirl. Instead, she twitched her fingers, walking for Zeke. My body grew tenser. "Samantha is a good hostess, but she thinks too small and after that little stunt you pulled against us... She really is afraid of you."

I'm guessing the Succubus wasn't.

Zeke's head turned from me and the possessed girl, mouth open.

"What the hell are you talking about..."

His words grew lower, fading as his face slacked and eyes widened. His expression became fear itself.

"Men are so much manageable when they're not talking. Don't you think?"

Heart kicking in my chest, I couldn't stop a sick feeling from creeping in. I started pulling on the bindings like a mad woman, screams came out muffled. The Succubus flashed a grin, placing a hand on Zeke's shoulder.

"You were angry over us taking a necklace? Well, I'm going to prove I can take your stupid jewelry and every other piece of your life. Starting with your friends."

I yelled. I kicked my feet on the ground hard enough that my ankles hurt, tugged on my wrists until skin ripped, dripping blood. But through all that useless crap, the Succubus had her mouth inches from Zeke's and... and was sucking his life force.

I watched helpless as Zeke's skin paled, looking worse than a ghost. Saw his blue eyes lose their warmness, generosity and glow. I watched... I watched as every bit of life got stolen.

There was dark blur. A loud crack—I saw the ceiling-to-floor split. A web of broken glass was left where Samantha's body had crashed into.

I pulled back when the blur fell to his knees in front of me.

Mercury eyes shot for mine.

His tongue skipped over his lips before he did anything else. For a minute, if I ignored the eyes, I could feel how familiar this was. Me being locked in the lunchroom with a Demon, Cameron busting in.

It was a cruel déjà vu from when I'd found out about them and Vanessa.

Strong hands reached for the sides of my face. I yelped when Lucifer tore the tape.

"You're hurt." He stated, leveling his gaze with my bleeding wrists.

He grasped a thread, ripping it apart like nothing. My arms fell down, aching and burning. But I was already on the move—or would've been if Lux hadn't blocked me.

"What are you doing? He could be dying! We have to..."

Lucifer clasped my cheeks. I gasped, taken aback by the gesture.

"He is dead, biscuit. There's nothing you can do for him."

My mouth opened silently. It... It couldn't be. He was lying, he had to be. I slapped his hands away, running around him, and falling to where Zeke was.

Bile lurched up my throat.

His eyes... his skin... it was so cold. I was touching him and... and he wasn't reacting. His eyes were wide open, void of life. Any glow. The eyes that looked at Dawn with such fondness, kindness. There was nothing there now.

I didn't know when or why, but I started banging on his chest. Doing continued CPR.

He couldn't be dead.

This wasn't fair—Zeke couldn't be dead!

"Wake up," I pressured the spot above his heart, crying out when there was nothing. not even a blink. "Zeke, wake up. Don't be dead, you can't be dead—I told Vanessa... I told her to keep you away. Wake up!"

Dawn kept flashing through my head. Then I remembered how it had felt, all the times Cam had been close to death, it felt like I was going to die. With him. I couldn't stand thinking... It couldn't be.

"He's gone." I shook my head, ignoring him. There was a sigh. "I'm taking Sam down to the boiler..."

The creak on the door caught my attention. I didn't know why. But I tore my eyes from Zeke's still form and saw two bright blue eyes stare ahead, stopped at the double doors.

"Phillip," I breathed. "Phillip—help me. Zeke can't die, please don't let him die. Phillip...?"

He looked to Lucifer as he carried an unconscious Sam to the door. He stepped aside letting them through.

"Don't just stand there—help me!" I pressed down my hands again. "Help him!"

I cried out when two hands took my shoulders, pulling me away.

"No—Phillip!"

"Nina," he shook me. I still wouldn't look at him. "Nina. He's... gone. Okay? He's gone."

Clutching my chin between his fingers, he forced my eyes on his.

"Zeke's dead, Nina. He's... There's nothing I can do." Nothing no one could do, I heard the cruel, unspoken truth.

I shoved my fingers through my hair, pinning it away, like that would help me breathe. Because it felt like I couldn't. There wasn't enough space all of sudden. Phillip walked around me, crouching. I heaved long breaths.

Images kept spinning before my eyes. There was no room for breathing.

"...you're blood got on his Jersey. I'll have to burn it before I move him..."

"How..." I swallowed, holding a hand to my head. "How can you be so calm? How are you just... handling this? This isn't normal! This isn't some Demon or Vampire—it's Zeke. Zeke—Phillip! Dawn's boyfriend..." I stumbled a step. "You're friend."

There was a beat of silence.

"You think I don't know that?" his voice shook. He half-hoisted Zeke's lifeless body to take off the number 2 Jersey. "But I can't do anything to fix it. So I have to do this—the only thing I can do."

I clutched my stomach, shaking, "I could've done something... I saw him dying. I sat there and watched him die.,,"

"You were tied up, Nina." I didn't even know how he knew. Maybe he'd seen the tossed rope or figured it out from my wrists. "It's not your fault."

Those words left him naturally. Like he was used to saying them and they'd lost all their meaning.

"It is." I drummed on. "I saw Zeke dead—I saw it as a vision. I told V... to keep him away from school..." My eyes shifted from the body, because Phillip stared over a shoulder now.

The way he looked at me made me want to smash the rest of window in.

Suffocating memories surfaced causing my breathing to itch.

I shook my head, stepping back, closer to the exit. "I can't save anyone. I can never save them!"

"Nina calm down—"

"No!" I yelled, smashing my hands on the push-doors.

I ran to where sound was heavier. It meant the exit was wherever those people were.

It was a small ocean of students between the door and me, but I maneuvered around each and every one, squeezing past some.

I needed to get out.

Air. I needed air.

Behind me, Phillip called out. I heard it twice before his voice got lost. I know he couldn't just leave with the cafeteria still out of order. With Zeke's body just lying there.

The cold winter air hit me straight in the face. I breathed. A long, painful breath.

Everything inside me crawled, though. I had to get away. From everyone here. From this school. From everything.

It didn't take long to find my car parked in line with another dozen. With nothing in mind, I buckled in. The events of tonight playing and replaying. I saw every detail. Especially a blond boy. A friend that was dead.

My foot sunk on the accelerator.

It wasn't fair. None of it. I'd seen the future. I'd tried to stop it and... and Zeke still died. What was the point in seeing into the future if you couldn't help the ones you loved? If no matter what you did they died?

Because everyone around me dropped like flies.

My parents. Nigel. Rose. Rory. Zeke.

Everyone was lost and five out of six had been my fault.

I was going way past the speed limit.

Houses, trees, they were all blurs. Until I saw something coming closer. A vague space between two houses. Where foundations were covered in snow.

The tires screeched to a halt. Only the pavement was slippery thanks to the ice. I grabbed onto the wheel just when shit hit the fan. Asphalt beat on metal, the car flipped over itself. Once over its side, then another over the front.

My head slammed dead on the steering wheel.

Windshield and window shards split, shooting across to me. Between the cold something warm ran down my face, it dripped to the ceiling of my car—it was too dark to see and I was having trouble looking at anything, but it was so warm and silky...

There was acute pain whenever I breathed.

I coughed bracing my hands on the ceiling—I was stuck. I stretched my hands up, looking for the seatbelt. I shook it with frustration and the warm liquid ran faster, a light headed feeling swept over.

Crying and smacking everything to get down, I saw someone come closer. Tears ran down my eyes as my mother's screams rang through my head, as the look on Helena's dead face came back haunt me and—I screamed.

"Nina!" It was too dark to see, and my vision was too hazy. "Is your seatbelt stuck—hey. Look at me, Nina, shh, calm down. I need to get you out of there but the only way it's going to happen is if you work with me. I can't risk hurting you."

"...Cameron...?" I coughed out.

A hand reached in, caressing my cheek, "Phillip." He said. "Put your hands on the hood, okay? Can you do that for me?"

I winced a yes.

"Okay," I heard. "One, two—" I yelped once Phillip ripped whatever was keeping me upside down. Jell-O shots were sturdier than my arms right now, Phillip reached in, scooping into his arms.

"Phillip... my neck... I can't breathe..."

"Shit, baby." He cursed, moving my hair off to the side. "Don't touch your neck—don't move your head." I lifted glassy eyes to his. "A shard of glass is lodged in there. If I take it out, it'll speed the bleeding."

Oh. That... That wasn't good.

"I'm getting you to the hospital." His strong arms held me closer. "Just stay with me."

***

Cam's POV

I'd given up fighting for control weeks ago.

The fucking seal made it impossible for me to dent the bastard's hold over my body. Felt like I'd been thrown down a pit with no rope to climb out. The worst was seeing and hearing. Especially when it came to Nina.

Seeing her, but not touching her. Not really. Hearing her, but not being able to talk back. And I wanted to. Badly.

But an hour ago, maybe more, since time wasn't really something I was keeping track of, I'd stopped—Lucifer had stopped Samantha from doing whatever. Only we hadn't stopped her. She'd sucked Zeke's life force out. Lucifer had known just by looking at the body and so had I.

I was going to kill the bitch.

But what was more important than anything was Nina. Because I felt her. Not the tingles, though I still got those, too.

I'd felt something... strange. Too emotional. So I knew they weren't my feelings. Not towards Zeke, even if... even if he'd been my friend.

Swallowing, I kept it together.

Anyway, I'd clung to those feelings. Like an imaginary thread connecting me to Nina. Maybe that Soul-thingy Jade could see. I'd clung to it and the more I had, the stronger her feelings had flowed into me.

I'd felt everything.

I'd wanted to bust out so I could hold her, comfort her, because Nina had been going off the deepened and my little brother hadn't been any help. I'd been sitting through a fucking exorcism, though.

But... a little later I got other emotions. Fear, pain and then... nothing.

I'd gone berserk. Clawing my way out from the pit, pushing for control, not matter how strong the seal was. I'd wanted out. I swear I heard her say my name—it excited me. It had been so long since she'd said it, since I'd heard her saying it.

I'd pushed. Pushed until my soul wavered, and when that happened, I'd fought harder. I'd fought for her. Because she needed me. And no one, not a Magical seal or the Devil was going to keep me from getting to her.

Not this time.

And I'd screwed them over.

I was free.

There was no time to acknowledge how great it felt to be up and about. I hadn't a freaking clue as to how long I could keep myself here. I'd left school a minute ago and was running everywhere, trying to feel her.

A hand racked my hair when I couldn't...

My heart stopped. A breath clammed my throat.

There, on the side of the road, was Nina's yellow Beetle. Only it was... it was turned upside down.

For a minute, I couldn't take one more step.

I stretched out my senses. I didn't hear a heartbeat coming from inside. I smelled blood. And there were no tingles. Nothing.

"No," I choked out before racing to the front of the vehicle. There was blood on the windshield. It was hers. I knew the smell. There was a red trail along the snowy asphalt. Like... she'd crawled out. No. Someone has taken her out.

A muscle thrummed along my jaw.

A police car along with a toe-truck were coming from the end of the road. Someone had to have called them. Maybe someone from the houses? Though the lights were out. Either they weren't home or were sleeping.

I hightailed. They'd ask questions I couldn't answer and I really had no time to lose.

I ran long enough to throw myself into the woods edge, smacking my back against a pine tree. Damn it. I couldn't feel her or her emotions. What did it mean? Because there was no way in Hell it meant... that.

It just didn't.

Phillip hadn't been down in the boiler. I'd swung by the cafeteria before leaving, Zeke's body had been moved. So...

I dug out my phone—ignoring how amazing it felt doing it—and dialed my brother.

He picked up after the fifth ring. Went to show how much he liked our dear uncle.

"Unless you—"

"Where is she?" I jumped the gun.

"How do you..."

"I found her car overturned, okay? Did you move her?"

I listened for sounds in the background. There were people talking. Some were using medical terms.

"Like you actually care—"

I hung up.

They were in the hospital. Luckily, the local hospital was two streets away from town's square. I wasn't that far—for me. Running back into the road, I flashed past the officers and workers, past the houses, and two minutes later I was in the city. I was going so fast my heart was jumping.

Almost kissing the side of an ambulance, I smacked my hand on it, heaving a breath before storming in. I'd always hated hospitals. Reasons why were obvious. I still remembered the last time I'd been here.

The night Nina's house burned down, I'd rode in the ambulance with her little brother and hadn't gone home until the kid was discharged. Not the best days. But for her... I would do anything.

I took the stairs and found myself on the second floor. I felt her now. Close.

A lab-coat guy was talking to Phillip. My pace picked up.

"...she has a concussion, but it doesn't seem to be anything too serious. The gash on her neck was the worst, but we managed to stop that and gave her a blood transfusion. She's sleeping now and she'll need rest but—"

"Where is she?" I all but slammed into my brother.

There was a massive scowl on the doctor's face but I wasn't giving shit about manners.

My brother was stupefied looking at my eyes. Oh yeah. I was supposed to be Lucifer.

"Where is she?" I forced, in a barely contained growl.

"She's... in there." He nodded to the room across from us. Through the slit blinds I saw her. "Cam?"

"Not now, little brother." I took a step for the door, mouth dry.

A hand pressed into my chest. I looked at the forty-year old guy who was a good head shorter than me, arching a brow.

"She's resting. It's no time for visits, you'll have to wait until she wakes up."

Hell to the no.

"I don't have time for that. Now, step aside or things won't be pretty."

Phillip grabbed my arm, gently. It was so not going to be okay if this douche thought he could stand between me and the girl I loved.

"He's her boyfriend."

The doctor didn't look too moved, "He could be her soulmate for all I cared. It's against hospital policy disturbing patients after visiting hours. Especially after such a big accident."

"It's a good thing I'm more than her soulmate, then." I smirked roguishly before going all super-speed, grabbing the guy by his collar and dragging us into the empty room behind us. "I really need some alone time with my girl. No hard feelings." I said, as I cut off his air supply—knocking him out.

I dropped the guy on the empty bed walking back outside, where Phillip was standing in front of Nina's door.

"You too?" he shook his head. "Good, 'cause I don't know how long I can keep Mr. Grubby hands from control."

Phillip nodded, stepping aside. I stepped in, shutting the door and lowering the blinds, all the time looking at her. Nina's hair was spilled around her head like a halo, not bright or dark, a combo of them both. Her face was a little paler than usual and there were two ugly bruises on her head. One right at the top of her head, another—pinker—on her temple.

My eyes got hold up on her lips.

Parted and full.

A shiver ran me over. Focus, Leale, I told myself, forcing my gaze lower. White gauze covered the left side of her neck. I remembered what the doc had said, about blood transfusions. It meant she'd been losing a lot of blood.

Her arms were bare, from wearing a hospital gown, placed over the white sheets. They had faint scratches—worse at her wrists. I had the urge to punt kick Sam and that Succubus into the next galaxy. Even if Serena had performed the ritual perfectly.

Leaving behind feelings for any other girl, I pulled up a chair to sit by her.

She looked cold and I wanted to warm her. But... I didn't want to risk pulling out the IV.

My fingers never shook so much like right now, when I reached for her face. They only stopped when her skin grazed on mine. A million emotions sparked alive. Wild and free, a passion and fire only she could lit up.

It wasn't until now that I felt just how much it sucked being unable to touch her. To breathe along with her.

I placed a hand over her chest, brushing her breast, feeling her heart stutter.

To feel her alive.

I closed my eyes feeling the soft skin. "Oh baby, I missed you so damn much." I edged closer, slipping my eyes open and lining up my mouth with her ear. "I felt you—felt your pain. I heard my name, too, and I... I'm here, little bird. I just wish I'd come sooner." I combed my fingers through her wavy hair, getting lost in its softness. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to touch you."

I rested my forehead on her arm, finding her raspberry scent among the antiseptic. That scent did crazy things to me.

She wasn't wearing her necklace. It had to be stashed away. Kissing her cheek longingly, I got up walking to the dresser, opening it, I saw the amber star. I unzipped the bag and watched the pendant dangle from my fingers.

I glanced back to Nina. She was exhausted. There was no way she'd wake up any time soon. Already I felt tired of fighting the seal's power and Lucifer's soul, tugging me back down. I wouldn't make it much longer.

Maybe I could give Nina something, though. Something she could see if... if this worked.

Sitting back down, I turned her palm up, dropping the star in it. I closed her fingers over it, mine closed over her hand. If an object was with someone at a given time, whatever happened would be forever imprinted on it. Nina's Power could pull out memories from people and objects.

We were holding onto the necklace which meant this memory was already being 'recorded' into it. There was no guarantee she would try to see memories through her necklace, but... it was worth a shot.

Leaning my lips to her ear again, I started singing. It was the song I'd played for her. The first time I realized what kind of hold she had on me, the first time I hadn't felt alone.

"I'd give up forever to touch you, 'cause I know that you feel me somehow... You're the closest to heaven that I'll ever be and I don't wanna go home right now," my fingers tightened over hers and my other hand brushed the blemish on her forehead as I kept singing the song like a lullaby. "...I just want you to know who I am."

Pressing a kiss on the crook of her arm, I stared for a few long minutes, memorizing every last line. Even if I'd memorized them the first time I'd seen her sleeping. Didn't matter how many times I saw her, though, she took my breath away.

"Doesn't get any better than this, little bird." A sad smile shaped my lips. I bent my head, lips dragging over the shell of her ear, whispering, "But it will. Because some things are meant to be and we're one of those things."

I rose to my full height, watching her breathe. My thumb tracked the elegant design of her eyebrow.

I kissed her. Full on the lips kissed her. It didn't matter she wasn't kissing back, because my soul rejoiced in the simple fact of her nearness, the feather softness of her mouth on mine, the feel of her soul. It was all I needed. Not all I wanted but definitely what I needed.

Didn't matter that my soul felt like it was caving in. If I was going to be sucked in and probably shackled to a boulder at the bottom of a ravine, I was going to take what was mine.

And Nina was mine and would always be.

Even when she was unconscious her heart skipped, which made me think of all the things I wanted to do with her. My lips warmed hers, I licked her lower one, tasting it fully. I cupped her cheek before pulling back. I'd be damned if that guy was going to come back while we were kissing.

Stumbling away from her took every shred of power. I wanted to wrap myself around her like a security blanket forever. She needed me. I knew that, but I also knew Nina was strong and she would be strong for both of us.

Because I would do the same for her.

Outside, I braced my back against the door, panting. Phillip's hand fell on a shoulder.

"Your eyes..." They were changing. "Vanessa's here. It's a good thing too, she's going to compel the doctor when he wakes up." He paused, tilting his head forward, rusty hair dangled above his eyes. "I'm sorry. I should've gone after her..."

"But you... had to deal with Zeke... I know." It was like being ripped apart.

"I'm sorry for not having noticed. I should've noticed that he was... That something was wrong with you, but I was being an ass. I'm sorry."

The worst part of Phillip apologizing? He meant it every frigging time. Which made me feel guilty for not spending time with him.

My hand landed on his, still on my shoulder, I held on.

"Little brother... I..." there was a stinging pain behind my eyes. He was coming.

Phillip's grip tightened, "I know, Cam. I do, too."

I couldn't be sure, but I think a smirk tipped my lips just before I got tossed into the pit.