Death In Her Eyes (Children of the Fallen Book 1)

by ERIN BEDFORD

“That time in class,” he began, and I stiffened. “When I saw inside your head...not the part with us,” Dex explained when he saw my face. I hoped I wasn’t blushing too bad. “I saw a bit of what Dharma saw. The stuff you keep in the back of your mind.”

  I ducked my head. “Oh.” I’d rather have talked about the sexy vision I’d had. I waited for him to tell me what a freak I was, to tell me that I was an abomination.

  So, when he finally continued, I was taken back. “You have a lot of pain in your heart and in your mind.”

  “Yeah, I guess.”

  I tried to shrug it off, but he wouldn’t let me. Dex turned to me, his hand reaching out almost afraid to touch me.

  “It must be hard, see the future.”

  I blinked up at him, a part of me wanting him to touch me. “It’s harder to live in it.”

  When he finally touched the side of my face, I tried not to flinch, but some habits are hard to break. His fingers brushed a piece of hair behind my ear.

  I shuddered as I was overtaken by another vision. Instead of seeing his death this time, it was another one that left me physically panting, as if it were happening to me. A hand ghosted the skin between my thighs, molten heat building with each stroke of his fingers. An involuntary sigh escaped my lips as the feeling of a hot mouth wrapped around the tip of my breast.

  So overwhelmed by the visions, my knees buckled beneath me, and Dex caught me while I gasped. Staring up at him with a mixture of wonder and embarrassment, it took me a moment to gather my wits before I scrambled from his arms.

  “Elle,” Dex’s voice was low and husky. The bulge in the front of his pants confirmed he’d seen and been just as affected as me from the vision. “Is that my future?”

  I swallowed thickly, licking my lips as I breathed out, “Yes.”

  “When does that happen?”

  His expression was guarded, as if he couldn’t or wouldn’t allow me to see what he was thinking. Did he want it to happen? Was the idea completely abhorrent to him? Obviously, his body didn’t think so, but that didn’t mean anything. Men could get hard for practically any reason.

  “Time is relative. You can’t always tell where you’ll end up in it.” I didn’t have to worry about lying when answering his question. I’d never been able to tell when something was going to happen. At least, not the way he was talking about. Unless there was a clock or a newspaper or something in the vision, I had to base it off of what I saw.

  Like my mother’s death.

  I knew the day she would die based on the clothes she was wearing in the car accident. The necklace she wore around her neck was new. She’d just bought it the week before. In fact, I’d almost collapsed the moment I saw it around her neck the first day. She’d consoled me, reminding me that the future wasn’t something I could control.

  Except Sarah made me think that it was. That I would be able to change the future. If I could, if I could stop the deaths I saw, then I would never have to feel the way I did when I waited for my mother to die.

  To my utter relief, the large clock chimed twelve times. It was time for lunch break.

  Dex shifted away from me, back to his stiffer than a dead guy façade. “We better go.”

  He kept his distance from me as we made our way back inside, being extra careful not to touch me. If he had anything to say about what we’d both seen, he didn’t say so. Then when he dropped me off at lunch, he didn’t stay to watch, but left without saying goodbye.

  Well, I’d heard of being pumped and then dumped, but this was ridiculous.

  THE DAYS DRAGGED by in a blur. There was still no sign of my dad, but Azazel assured me that he was fine. I still had a babysitter, but it was a rotation of other teachers and staff I'd barely said hello to in passing. Dex didn't show back up once.

  In class, he pretty much acted like I didn't exist. We were given assignments, most of them things that I couldn't do. Even when they wanted me to tell the future, I couldn't do it on command. I figured the thing with Trevor had been a fluke or a weird occurrence of déjà vu.

  I stopped by Sarah's once that week, looking for some kind of insight into my powers, or even just a listening ear. I could use with a friend who understood what I was going through. I still hadn't gotten my phone back, and I knew it was just a matter of time before Nikki showed up with a whole SWAT team looking for me.

  "Be patient," Sarah told me as she poured me another glass of her godawful tea. "I see change in the air. Worry causes nothing but wrinkles."

  I snorted. "From what I hear, we're practically immortal. So, I don't think I have to worry too much about that."

  Sarah smiled gently at me. "Oh, we age. I didn't get this way from drinking too much tea." She winked at she took a sip of her cup. "Tell me what's really bothering you."

  I twirled my cup around in between my hands, staring down at its cooling contents. "I just feel so stuck. I'm not progressing with my powers. I'm not really learning anything but a bunch of history about stuff I don't even care about." I sighed and laid my head down on my arms, pushing my cup away. "My dad has disappeared again, so I don't even know what happened with Michael. I'm supposed to be starting college this fall with Nikki. Instead," I banged my fist on the table making the cups rattle, "I'm stuck here with no way out and I'm going a bit—"

  "Stir crazy?"

  "Exactly." I sighed long and hard. "I just don't know what to do. Does anyone leave this place?"

  Sarah chuckled. "Of course, they do, silly girl. Do you think we keep them trapped here forever?"

  I arched a brow.

  Shaking her head in disbelief, Sarah shifted around in her seat to pick up a photo album. "You younglings, I'll never understand any of your generation." She laid the photo album down on the table and flipped it open to a page. "See, we don't keep them captive. This girl became a famous actress." She pointed at a pretty dark-haired girl with big curls, who I recognized from some old black and white movies. "And this boy here, why he became a football star. Won three Super Bowls." She smiled fondly as she went through each person in the book. Some went on to do amazing things, while others went on to have normal lives.

  "So, what's the point of bringing us here then? Won't the angels still be hunting them down once they leave?"

  She tapped her nose and grinned mischievously. "Ah, yes, but Nephilim who have been taught to shield and protect themselves are far harder to take out than mere children who are defenseless and vulnerable."

  I inclined my head. "Oh."

  "Which is only one of the reasons why your father wants you here."

  Frowning, I shifted back in my chair. "What's the other reasons?"

  Closing the photo album, Sarah set it to the side. "I'm sure you've noticed that you're not quite like the others."

  My lips twisted to one side.

  "It's not your fault, dear. There's nothing wrong with you." She placed her hand a few inches from mine. "Angels were never meant to mate with humans, let alone have children. The offspring of those couplings made you...the Nephilims. Which was fine for a while. Then the Nephilims began to breed amongst themselves, making even more powerful offspring. Like your friend, Dex."

  I flushed at her mentioning of him. "That's why he can read minds and make fire."

  "Precisely."

  "And what about me?" I stared down at my hands in wonder. "I can't do any of the things the others can. I'm not even a real seer." I frowned harder as my brows drew together tight. "My dad is an angel—fallen angel, or whatever—and my mom was a Nephilim." My gaze drifted up to hers. "What about me? No one has ever mentioned what happens to people like me."

  Sarah expression softened. "That's because people like you don't exist. Not only is it forbidden but near impossible." Her smile grew as she lifted her teacup to her lips. "Not completely, obviously. After all, they made you."

  "But what does that mean? Will I be able to do any of the stuff everyone else can? Make fire? Read minds?" I listed all the different abilities I could think of o
ff to her, and she simply nodded.

  "Perhaps. But we won't know until it is time."

  I glanced down at the mark on my hand. The one that was almost nonexistent. My dad said he would redo it here, but I hadn't seen him to worry about that conversation just yet. I didn't know if I wanted him to redo it, and yet, I could barely handle the powers I had. Did I really want more?

  Thanking Sarah, I left her rooms with a lot on my mind. It was near lunch time now, and though I wasn't quite hungry, I knew I should eat something.

  When I arrived at the dining hall, it wasn't as packed as usual. Searching the room, I found a familiar head of red hair.

  "Hey." Zephyr gave me one of those little guy jerks of his head as he popped a grape into his mouth. None of the others were there yet. Strange.

  "Uh, hey." I slid into a seat next to him because it would be rude not to and began grabbing things off the trays lining the table. After my little session with Sarah, my stomach was a bit wobbly. I choose something light. Something that wouldn't curdle in my stomach later.

  "Jell-O, huh?"

  "What?" I glanced away from the red pile of wiggly gelatin. "Uh, yeah. My stomach doesn't want food today."

  Nodding understandingly, Zephyr popped another grape into his mouth. "That's cool. I get like that some days too. You know what helps?" He leaned toward me conspiratorially.

  I decided to play along with his game. "What?"

  "Don't get involved with teachers."

  I jerked back. "What?"

  Zephyr smirked, his brows wagging at me. "Don't pretend like something's not going on with you two."

  "There isn't." I shifted, stabbing my Jell-O with my spoon.

  "Then it must have been someone else I saw getting handsy with a teacher when they were supposed to be in class a few days ago." He chuckled and shook his head, sticking his fork into the pile of potato salad before shoving it into his mouth.

  "That was...nothing," I ended lamely, and then my shoulders bunched up. "What's it to you anyway?"

  He shook his head once more, his face clearly laughing at me. "No reason. No reason at all. Just..." he continued, as if he hadn't just said he didn't care. "Be careful. He's different. Not like the rest of us."

  My fingers curled around the handle of my spoon tightly. "Different how?"

  "You know," Zephyr muttered through a mouthful of food. "He's got two Nephilim parents." He frowned with concern. "I doubt there's much human in him anywhere. Probably why the girls all fawn over him so much."

  "What's so wrong with that?" My words having more of a bite than I meant for it too.

  "Nothing. I just—"

  "And you know what? It sounds like you're just jealous," I snapped at him before he could defend himself more. "And besides that, there are plenty who would say I'm different too." I jumped to my feet, suddenly not hungry at all. "And what do you know about it anyway?"

  I turned on my heel and stalked out of the dining hall. On my way out, I practically ran into Ayden and the others

  "Hey, Elle." She smiled at me and then frowned when she saw my face. "Hey guys, I'll catch up." When they were gone, she shifted closer but didn't touch me. "Uh, what's up?"

  "Nothing." I shifted my face to the side and then huffed. Why was I angry? I didn't know Dex. For all I knew, Zephyr had been right. Still, I didn't like the way he talked about him. Like being different was a bad thing. If anyone was different, it would be me.

  Taking a deep breath, I blew it out slowly. "Nothing, really. Someone just got on my nerves. Where were you at?"

  "Oh." Ayden's face lit up, and then she held her arm up. "We were getting passes for the trip to town this weekend." She showed me the metal gold bracelet around her wrist.

  "To town?" My face perked up at the news. "What town? When? Where?"

  Ayden giggled. "It's a thirty-minute drive to Newbury. You just have to go get a pass from Azazel."

  "What about the angels?" I pointed out, not believing for a second that Azazel would let me leave the school on my own if at all. "And the barrier."

  "That's what the pass is for." Ayden held her arm up again. "It works as a temporary shield to mask us from the angels, and a locator of sorts."

  "What do you mean?"

  "It tells Azazel or whoever monitors them where you are at all times." She twisted the bracelet around her wrist. "If you get too far away from the approved area, it sends out a sort of electrical current as a warning. If you get too far away, the current gets stronger until it knocks you out and someone will come get you to take you back to the school."

  "That doesn't sound safe." It sounded more like cruel and unusual punishment to me. Another way for my dad and Azazel to keep control of their students.

  Ayden shrugged, not too worried about it. "The twins tried to take off with a group of girls at one point and got knocked flat on their asses. Serves them right for trying to ditch us, but it also serves as a way to keep us safe."

  "I don't see how." I arched a brow at the bracelet. I wasn't sure I wanted one of those on my wrist now.

  "Because..." Ayden leaned closer to me. "Say that an angel did find one of us and they snatched us up? It would not only knock us out but whoever was touching us too." I stared at the little piece of metal with a renewed interest. That could come in handy. "So, you see, it sucks to be monitored yeah, but it’s for our own good."

  I hummed but didn't answer her. Ayden and the others seemed to have all drunk the same Kool-Aid here at the Fallen Academy. Arguing with her to see the light would do nothing but make her mad and isolate me from the only allies I had.

  "Well, I'm going to go to lunch." Ayden shifted her book bag from one shoulder to the other. "See you later?"

  I inclined my head. "Yeah, I'm going to go see about getting a pass."

  "Good idea. I can show you around town!" Her amber eyes brightened considerably. "They have a little diner there that has the best milkshakes. You are going to die. I swear."

  I chuckled politely at her enthusiasm. "I'm sure. I'll let you know."

  "Great. See ya."

  Waving bye, I headed for Azazel's office. I needed to talk to the crazy angel woman about my dad anyway, might as well try and get a pass too. Not that I had high hopes of getting one. If I was still being babysat around the school grounds, the likelihood of her letting me actually leave the school was slim to none.

  When I arrived at Azazel's office, there were raised voices coming from behind her door. I sat on the bench outside of it and waited for the voices to quiet. A moment later, the door flung open and Dex stood there.

  Nostrils flaring and shoulders tight, he was just as beautiful as the day I met him.

  His eyes dropped to me. "What are you doing here?"

  I stood and held my bag tightly to my side. "Getting a pass for the weekend."

  Dex snorted, placing a hand over his face as he shook his head. "Of course, you are. No sense of self preservation." The words were muttered more to himself than to me, but I responded anyway.

  "What was that?" My jaw tightened, and I stepped closer to him.

  To my surprise and annoyance, he backed up a step.

  "Afraid of me now, Dex?" I arched a brow, a hint of laughter in my voice.

  "Stop saying my name like that." He grunted, walking away from the door. What could I say? I was a masochist, so I followed him.

  "Like what?"

  Dex turned his head to the side. "Like we're friends. Like you know me."

  So, he was as bothered as I was by the visions. At least I wasn't the only one suffering.

  "Aren't we though?" I quickened my steps until I could jump in front of him, giving him little choice but to stop or run me over. "I think we both know we're going to be more than friends."

  "Not every vision comes true." Dex glared down at me with exasperation.

  "Mine do."

  "Well, this one won't." Dex sidestepped me and stalked away. This time, I didn't follow him.

  I didn't know what his pro
blem with me was. I hadn't done anything to him, except make him get a boner and have babysitting duties. Still, I couldn't understand why he was so against what happened in my visions. We were both adults. There was nothing wrong with us having a physical relationship. Not that I had planned on it with anyone here. Any bumping of uglies I had planned were for college, where I could get drunk and one night stand my way through the male population. That way, I didn't have to worry about them dying on me if I got too attached.

  "Eleanor." Azazel's voice jerked me out of my thoughts. "Did you need something?"

  I glanced back toward the direction Dex had gone and then back to Azazel. "Uh, yeah." I hurried over to her office. She closed it behind me after I stepped in. Rounding her desk, she sat behind it and clicked at her keyboard.

  When I didn't say anything for a long moment and only watched her work, she stopped what she was doing and looked up at me. "Well, out with it already."

  The first thing to come out of my mouth wasn't about the weekend pass or even about my dad. "What was all that about?"

  "All what?" Her voice had no inflection to it at all, nor did she give away any of what she was thinking.

  I opened my mouth to ask about the argument with her and Dex, and then slammed my mouth shut. What did I care? Not like she'd tell me anyway. "Nothing. Never mind."

  "Then if that's all?" She turned back to her computer, but I didn't leave. "What now?" This time, she let an annoyed sigh fall from her mouth.

  "I want to see my dad."

  "Oh?" Her brows shot up to her hair line. "You do? That's certainly a surprise."

  "Well, so? He's my dad. I can talk to him if I want." I pressed my lips into a hard line and stepped up to her desk. "And if you hadn't confiscated my phone, I could have called him myself." I held my hand out. "I want it back."

  "Why? So, you can call your little friend?" She clasped her hands in front of her on the desk. "I'm afraid that's out of the question. However, I can arrange a meeting with your father, but I'm afraid he's in meetings all day today. Perhaps, Monday? Would that work for you?" I ground my teeth together. "Fine."

  "Was that all?" She swiveled her chair, hopeful to have me gone.