He gave me a nod. “Good. We are going to need all the help we can get. Do you know which wendigo placed the mark?”
This part, I didn’t want to tell him, but seeing no other way around it, I said, “I have no clue.”
He took the two steps that divided us and grabbed me by the arms. “Promise me that you won’t release the original wendigo unless I’m there.”
“Well, it’s not like I would know which wendigo is the first. I mean, no offense, but other than weight and height, so far, all of you have looked the same.”
“This one will have wings. Non-retractable in the wendigo form. Can’t miss them. Now promise me.”
My brows clashed. “How do you know this?”
“An archangel visited me.”
“Which one?”
He sighed. “Jophiel. Now promise me.”
“I promise, I’ll wait for you.”
He pulled me to him, crushing me to his chest. “I can’t live through burying you again.”
I rubbed my hands up and down his massive back. “You won’t have to.” Pulling back from him, I said, “I need you to try to fight against her commands for as long as you can. Walk slow to town. Do everything you can to buy me some time.”
“Of course.”
He tilted his head toward mine, and when our lips touched, everything in the world seemed a little less complicated. The smell of him wrapped around me, and I instantly committed to memory the taste of him.
He was intoxicating. The more he kissed me, the more I needed him. I gripped him to me as he swirled his tongue with mine. He was irresistible, and I was insatiable. I needed more.
He threaded his hand through my thick hair and wrapped his fist tightly around the long tresses, pulling my head back. He kissed my chin then left a trail of kisses down my throat, making me moan.
“Gabriella,” he said between kisses.
“Hmm?”
“When we aren’t busy saving humanity and the world, there will be nothing that will stop me from finally claiming you.”
He started to pull back, but I grabbed his head and pulled his lips back to my throat. “Claim me now.”
He chuckled as he gave me one last kiss. “I don’t want to rush through this. The headmistress will be waking up any minute now.”
I groaned out loud, though I knew that he was probably right.
“I need to go now, don’t I?”
He gave me a smile that the devil himself would be jealous of. It was wicked and full of promises. “If you are going to beat us to the town, you need to hurry.”
I rubbed a hand over my chest. “The good news is, if I’m wrong about the destination she picks, then I’ll find you. I’ll feel you through our bond.”
He nodded before he gave me a light push. “Wake up, Maka.”
I spit out a bit of dirt as I rolled over and saw Remy was leaning up against a tree. When she noticed me, she came skipping over to me. She braced herself with her hands on her knees as she leaned over me, her hair swinging in her face.
“Yay, you’re back. I was so bored.”
I glared up at her. “You hit me. Hard.”
She nodded as if I was actually asking her a question. “Yep. I’m assuming you talked with the commander?”
I rubbed a hand on the bump on my forehead that was already healing. “Yes.”
She stood up and clapped her hands. That damn clapping was going to be the death of me. “You don’t have to thank me. So, what did we find out?”
“There is a town near this national park. We need to find it. Since it will be nightfall, we should focus on the only establishments that are open. She knows that we are on her tail. It would be stupid of her not to hit the biggest gathering she can find.”
“So, you think restaurants, movie theatres, bars?”
“Yeah.” This was going to be nearly impossible unless we manipulated the odds into our favor. “Go ahead of me and get a lay of the land; see how big the town is.”
“Okay. I think you need to fly in with crimson wings and all; make a huge production.”
“You want me to fly in and what? Create a panic amongst the humans?”
“Please? Most of them are enamored by the blessed. Go work your magic.”
“What and shout something generic like, Run to your homes, lock the doors, call your loved ones, or kiss your asses goodbye? I’m completely paraphrasing what I think the inside of your mind is like right now, but am I close?”
She shrugged. “I mean, maybe amp up the theatrics a bit, but yeah, along those lines.”
“Yeah, so here’s the thing. What’s going to happen when the headmistress shows up and it’s a ghost town? She will know that something is up. What if she then decides to go to the next town or the next state? We will never find her.”
“Okay, I’ll be thinking of something else.”
“How about, right now, you go scout the town, and I’ll meet you on Main Street. Then we can plan.”
She was gone before I had my wings out.
I flew to the sky in a blur of red. My heart felt lighter up in the air, and I instantly thought of Hannah. So far, her loss had been more significant than any of ours. As soon as I had the headmistress taken care of, I would make sure to spend time with her.
I had landed quietly outside the city limits in hopes that no one would notice me. At this point, the back of my shirt was so torn and shredded from where my wings came out that I was scared I would be showing so major side boob. I took the torn ends at the bottom and tied it back, hoping my shirt would pass for a halter top. Then there were my jeans, which were muddy and torn at the knees from wrestling with a wendigo. However, I would rather everyone think I’m a runaway teenager than a fully blessed.
Once I got to a neighborhood, I realized that it was exactly what people thought of me. Some gave me pitying looks, and some made sure not to make eye contact. After walking a couple of miles toward town, I found a little girl’s bike propped up against a mailbox. It had a pink basket in the front and streamers hanging down the handlebars. I went around the side of the house and found the child playing jump rope.
Trying to give her a smile that wasn’t creepy, I said, “Hi.”
She immediately stopped jumping and looked at me with a funny look on her face. Maybe I missed the mark on the smile. “My mother is right inside,” she told me snottily.
“Cool. So, I need to meet my friend in town, and I don’t have a way. Would it be okay if I borrowed your bike?”
She squinted at me. “Um, no. First off, you’re too old for my bike. Like you’re so old you should be driving. Secondly, how do I know you will return my bike?”
“Those are all valid questions, in which I have zero answers for.”
That made her smile. “I don’t like Colton.”
I looked around the empty yard. “I’m sorry. What was that again?”
She rolled her eyes. “Colton. He’s in my fifth-grade class. He is mean, but he’s also the teacher’s son, so he gets away with it.”
I started to back away. I didn’t know what possessed me to ask if I could borrow the bike in the first place. I had never stolen anything in my life but, considering I was potentially saving the world, I should be able to cut myself some slack.
“Anyway, I can’t stand him. He lives next door.” She pointed at the two-story house right next to hers. “He’s at church. Yep, on a Wednesday. He is so bad that he needs two days a week to fess up to his sins. Right now, he is probably having people pray for his soul.”
I waved, hoping it would get her to stop talking. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”
“His bike is in the shed. It’s a ten-speed, and Colton is tall for his age, so if you steal it, you won’t look like such a loser when you’re biking around town.”
I smiled at her as I headed to the house next door. “Thanks!”
She picked up her jump rope. “No, thank you. And just remember, snitches end in ditches.”
My smile f
altered a little. When did children turn so savage?
I gave her another wave as I ran to the shed. Finding the bike, I hopped on, thanking Colton for being large for his age so I didn’t look like a clown as I peddled down the road as fast as I could.
I passed a few homes scattered here and there, along with a few fliers for the watermelon festival that began tonight at six and would last until Sunday. This wasn’t good. A festival would be outdoors. Not in a place where we could contain wendigos.
I found Remy sitting on a bench, watching the cars go by on Main Street’s curvy road. She held an ice cream cone as she basked in the sun.
“Where did you get that?” I asked as I pointed at the vanilla dripping down her hand.
“I’m a ghost. I can zip into any store and take what I want. And Mama needed some ice cream, especially after I just found out how screwed we really are.”
Glad to know one of us didn’t have issues with stealing.
She narrowed her eyes at me for a second. “And where did you get that?”
I put the kickstand down as I got off the bike. “I borrowed it from a bully named Colton, who is at church, repenting for his sins. And what do you mean exactly by we’re screwed? Are you talking about the festival?”
She licked her cone. “Yep. The whole town is shutting down for this festival. They have an outdoor fair and everything. Tonight starts off the festival with a jalapeño eating contest. Don’t ask me why these humans would punish themselves like that, but let them live while they can. Half the town will probably be wendigos by the end of the night.”
“Not helping,” I snapped. “Where does this festival take place exactly?”
“Two streets down. They have the road closed from there until fifth street. So, that’s an area of five blocks to cover.”
I groaned. “I’ll find a rooftop somewhere in the middle of the street, hide out there, and wait.”
She ate her ice cream leisurely like we had all the time in the world. “I’ll go in ghost form when I’m done. You know, there is no way we are going to be able to save these people.”
“I don’t know what other choices we have.”
She gave me a steady look. “This is why I’m the best friend. Anyone else would convince you to take the commander out. Or worse, change him back to the blessed, possibly causing your death. Instead, I’m going to sit here, enjoy the sun beating down on me while I eat this delicious vanilla ice cream, and take one last look at the world as we know it before it’s overrun with wendigos.”
I rolled my eyes. “You are so dramatic. We are not going to let the headmistress turn the town into wendigos.”
“Well, either way, today should be interesting.”
“Do check-ins with me. This time, if you find the headmistress first, let me handle it. We can’t afford for her to escape again.”
Another lick. “My pleasure. Wielding the Flaming Sword on such a big fish in my first rodeo was too much pressure, to be honest with you. This whole situation has my anxiety level so high.”
I watched as she waved at someone walking by like she was one of the locals. If this was her stressed, I had no words for when she relaxed.
I ran a hand over my chest. “I don’t feel Finn. He isn’t anywhere close. I’m going to go walk Main Street and get a feel for the activities for tonight.”
She stood up, finishing her ice cream. “I’ll come, too. You know, this is a cute little town.”
She stopped an elderly gentleman who was walking his dog on the sidewalk. “Excuse me, sir. Me and my friend are visiting your lovely little town. What is the population here?”
He beamed. “We’re up to ten thousand.” He then went on to tell us the brief history of the town and the founding fathers, who happened to be one of his third cousins, twice removed.
Remy tipped an imaginary hat to him. “Thank you so much for the history lesson.”
He waved us off, and I sighed.
“Ten thousand is a tiny population.”
“Yeah, but it’s the beginning of a great army.”
I nodded. If Finn was unable to control himself until we could find him, we were screwed. All of us.
Right in front of the courthouse, there was a stage set up. Four guys, all middle-aged, were rocking out to some southern rock song. The lead singer thought God had given him a talent that he needed to share with the world, or at least this small town, and his friends, neighbors, and the town residents didn’t have the heart to tell him that he was tone-deaf.
Remy cheered after their first song was over. “I wonder if they take recommendations?”
“I’ll kill you,” I said as I looked up and down the narrow, curvy street. “It looks like they have already closed the businesses on this street for the festival’s kick-off.”
Remy pointed to a few pop-up tents. “It looks like the local restaurants are working from those tents.” Her nose curled up when she picked up a flyer. “With a limited menu.”
“Good thing we’re not here for music or food.”
“Joy killer. It looks like they are finishing setting up a small fair on the last two blocks.”
“So, on these five blocks, we have a fair for children, food stations, lemonade, funnel cakes, and caramel apples, along with a whole booth for watermelons. If the headmistress has Finn attack one human at a time, it will cause everyone to panic and run. She needs to hit as many as possible, and I would think she wouldn’t do it in broad daylight in the middle of the street.”
As we walked toward the fair, I found a carnival house had set up. There was a sign out front that stated you had to be eighteen years or older, or accompanied by a parent, in order to go into the carnival house.”
“Winner, winner chicken dinner,” Remy said.
“Yeah, it looks like her best bet.”
“Great.” Remy clapped. “So glad we narrowed down where she’d probably go on these measly five blocks. I’m going to help myself to some watermelon and flirt with the lemonade stand guy. Since I’m newly single, he can be my rebound.”
I gave her a what-the-hell look.
She shrugged. “Listen, I’m not an expert on the language of love, but one thing I do know is there are a lot of fish in the sea. The ocean is a charcuterie board of men from goldfish to Moby Dicks. Men are like trains; if you stand there long enough, another one will be by in a second. All aboard!”
I shook my head as she started swinging her hips as she walked to the lemonade stand. Then I sat on the curb, waiting for my heartstrings to tighten. The hot temperatures began to cool as the sun went down. Townsfolk laughed and talked with people who they ran into on the street. Children begged their parents to buy them a ticket to the inflatables that were set up in the fair section. The festival was everything one would think it would be—laughter, music, and a good time. I thought maybe we were all wrong, and the headmistress had decided against stopping at this little town when, all of a sudden, I felt him. Finn was getting closer.
I rushed over to find Remy. She was eating a funnel cake and talking with an elderly woman.
“Excuse us,” I said as I pulled Remy away.
Remy shouted over her shoulder, “Make sure you rest that knee, Mary Kate.”
Then she whispered to me, “That woman has so much topical pain relief ointment on her body that I’ll never get the smell out of my nostrils.”
“Remy, Finn is getting closer.”
She chucked the remainder of her funnel cake into a trash bin. “Okay. It makes sense. It’s almost dark. What do you want me to do?”
“Can you look above, and when you see which way they are heading, let me know?”
She nodded.
“I think I’ll go into the carnival house and wait there. It’s dark, and she’ll be able to hide the ones that Finn turns into wendigos there.”
“Before I go all ghost, I’ll create a distraction for you.”
“What?”
“You don’t have tickets, sugar dumpling. How are you
going to get in? Show ’em a little nip?”
“Ew. Gross. No.”
She rolled her blue eyes. “Didn’t think so, my prudish friend. I’ll help you out. Plus, it didn’t work out with the lemonade guy.”
I scoffed. “What? He wasn’t impressed by you?”
“The gay ones never are, babe.” She pushed me to the side of the carnival house. “There is an opening in the flap of the tent. I’ll flirt with the guy until you’re in.”
“Thanks,” I said.
“No worries. I’m best friend material; I can’t help but be superb.”
I was laughing as I slipped into the tent. The next hour would either go incredibly well, or it would be the beginning of the end.
I took calming breaths as Finn grew closer and closer.
From where I hid behind a funny mirror, I could hear a gaggle of teenagers outside. They must have been lining up.
It was about five minutes away from complete darkness when I felt a tightness close in around me. Finn was right outside. He must be at the side flap where I had entered.
A gust of cold air rushed over me before I heard Remy say, “She is twenty feet away. Right outside this tent, there is an old building that’s a general store. Down the side is a dumpster. Look behind it.”
“If Finn loses the war within himself, do whatever you can to stop him without killing him.”
“You got it.”
I brushed past my friend and the cold air that surrounded her to see a wendigo’s reflection in the funny mirrors. He made eye contact with me, and I could tell the man trapped inside was doing everything he could to slow down time.
I ran out of the tent and toward the narrow brick building. The headmistress heard me and, as I approached the dumpster before I could reach her, she punched her wings out and took to the sky. Without hesitation, I immediately followed her.
The moment she caught sight of my crimson wings, her mouth dropped open. Her shock allowed me time to catch her.
Captured: Academy of the Seraph Page 17