Divine Fall

by Kathryn Knight

  After a painful attempt at some last-minute cramming during my first two periods, I’d scribbled equations and circled answers on my chem exam with reckless abandon. Then I’d carefully forged a note from Nathaniel excusing me for a doctor’s appointment.

  I punched the accelerator enough to push my car’s speedometer a few ticks past the limit. My nervous system demanded more, but it was as fast as my safety-conscious superego would allow. The empty access road stretched in front of me like an endless black ribbon. Catoctin Mountain loomed on my left, splashed in brilliant shades of red and gold. The fiery autumn foliage flew by, reminding me of warning lights.

  What had Nathaniel said to Dothan? Whatever it was, it had been horribly convincing—Dothan never ignored my texts. Unless, of course, he’d just decided I wasn’t worth this kind of trouble. He was probably furious I’d failed to tell him about my conversation with Nathaniel. But it had only been a day—I assumed I had a little more time to figure things out. How could I have predicted this turn of events?

  Oh, God. I needed a distraction from my frantic thoughts. With a defiant lunge, I snapped on the radio, praying the thing still worked. I was rewarded with an AM talk show, apparently the last thing I listened to before I decided silence was preferable to political discussions.

  I hit the search button maniacally in an attempt to find something I recognized, but avoiding music for two years had seriously set me back. Finally I located an old song that was vaguely familiar, and I belted out a combination of random words and garbled sounds. I was leaving my daddy issues, along with my dignity, behind. There were much bigger issues at play.

  The exit onto Center Street appeared, and I gripped the steering wheel as I merged with nonexistent traffic. Almost there. The small groups of stores and stand-alone shops began to give way to larger stretches of trees. I passed the country store I now thought of as “ours”, and my stomach clenched. What if I got to Fox Run and he was gone? Just…vanished? I’d never find him. All I had was his cell phone number, which he’d stopped answering, and his full name, which probably had next to no information attached to it. For all I knew, he’d given me a fake last name that night at the café. Panic coursed through my veins in jagged bursts.

  I swung right onto Moss River Bend and followed the road toward Fox Run. Thick trees and tangled undergrowth lined the right side; to my left, miles of white split-rail fence were interrupted only by the entrances to long driveways. A few more minutes, and a curve in the road would bring Fox Run’s fields into view. The music segued into commercials, and I snapped the radio off with a grimace.

  The familiar driveway appeared, and my heart rate spiked as I maneuvered my car toward the barn. Rocky and another dog followed me, their joyful barks punctuating my silent, repetitive prayer. Please.

  A rush of air exploded from my lungs when I spotted his car, alone in the parking area. I pulled up beside it, cut the engine, and dropped my forehead on the steering wheel. My entire body trembled with a strange mix of relief and apprehension.

  Drawing in a shaky breath, I lifted my head. The dogs had abandoned me. I stepped out of the car and caught sight of them, running through the field toward a tall figure. Dothan. Oh, thank God. I stared at his back, rubbing my eyes to rule out a mirage.

  It wasn’t just wishful thinking—he was really there. Okay. Time to undo whatever damage Nathaniel had done. I slipped through the fence, fighting the urge to break into a run as I crossed the field. Looking like a maniac would not help my case.

  He bent down, and the two dogs surrounded him. It took my frazzled brain cells a minute to figure out what he was doing. Then he stood back up, and I saw a new salt lick sitting in the black rubber container. Sally wandered over and stretched her head down for a taste. That horse had developed quite an attachment to Dothan since our trail ride.

  An ache spread through my chest as I remembered my birthday. My fingers drifted to the stack of bracelets encircling my wrist. I stopped, hesitating. Dothan’s back was to me, but his muscles tensed beneath his faded yellow T-shirt; he knew I was there. “Dothan?” I murmured, my voice wavering.

  He turned, sliding his hand from Sally’s neck and raking it through his hair. His face was stone, but his eyes revealed a dark pain in their depths. He gazed at me silently.

  I didn’t know where to start. “We need to talk,” I finally said. Lame.

  He shook his head slowly. “It would have been nice if you’d told me Nathaniel knew about us. I might have been a little more prepared. But now the only thing I need to do is leave. For good. Fox Run is your place, and you shouldn’t have to see me here every day. I just don’t want to walk out on Mr. White until he has a replacement.”

  My blood turned to ice. “What are you talking about? You can’t leave. What about us?” The sentences rushed out on a pleading breath.

  “There can’t be an ‘us’, Jamie.”

  “Of course there can! There already is.” The dogs pushed against my legs, vying for my attention. I ignored them. “What exactly did Nathaniel say to make you act this way?”

  “He reminded me that I’m dangerous to you.” A muscle along his jaw twitched.

  “That’s ridiculous. No one has come after me yet. Or you, for that matter,” I added, throwing my shoulders back. “We’re fine.”

  “I pose a different kind of danger, aside from that. It won’t work for us. It can’t.”

  Was he trying to be evasive? “Explain.” I folded my arms across my chest and pinned him with a threatening glare.

  He shifted his weight, pushing his hands into his pockets. “Remember what happened to my mother? That could happen to you.”

  Huh? My brain faltered a few times before comprehension dawned. I made a strange sound. Sucking in air, I tried again. “But I…uh…I’m not pregnant.”

  “And if we have sex?”

  Blood burned beneath my skin, but I kept my eyes locked with his. “There are ways of avoiding pregnancy.”

  “Nothing’s foolproof.” His words rang with cold certainty.

  “Yeah, but we haven’t even…” I lost my inner battle and looked down at my feet. The nice boots I was currently grinding into the dirt weren’t meant for the barn; I hadn’t exactly considered stopping to change into appropriate clothing after my flight from school.

  “I know,” he said gently. “But the more time we spend together, the closer we get…the more likely it is we’ll succumb to temptation. Just like my father and mother did.”

  I lifted my head. “I’m not scared.”

  “Giving birth to a supernatural creature killed her, Jamie.”

  “Do you know that for a fact?” I tossed back. I fought to appear confident, but my hands were going to give me away. The urge to claw at my cuticles was becoming overwhelming. “Maybe it was just a difficult birth. I’m guessing there were no doctors present,” I added, curling my fingers into fists.

  His mouth pressed into a hard line as he sighed. “You’ve got me there. But it stands to reason. My mother died giving birth to a Nephilim. It doesn’t really matter what the exact cause of her death was. She wouldn’t have died if my father hadn’t gotten her pregnant. That was enough for the Divine Council.”

  “Well, it’s not enough for me. Millions of women die in childbirth. I highly doubt the majority of them are carrying half angels.”

  He closed his eyes. “It’s not worth the risk.”

  “Listen. You already told me humans and angels have relationships. Yet you’re the only surviving Nephilim. That statistic speaks for itself. First, we’d have to be incredibly unlucky to get pregnant if we took all available precautions. Second, the natural order of biology would probably keep it from happening in any event. And finally, you’re not even a full blooded angel! If by some minuscule chance I did get pregnant, I might survive.”

  “And you might not,” he countered, his tone steely.

  “And I might get hit by a drunk driver. Or struck by lightning. Or thrown from a horse. I could ge
t cancer. Life is full of risks.”

  His wide shoulders fell. “Why do you want to be with me so badly, Jamie? I’m not worth it.”

  “Stop saying that!” I yelled. “You are.” Unable to stand the distance between us any longer, I lunged forward and grabbed his shirt. Curling my fists into the worn fabric, I dropped my forehead to his chest.

  He groaned, folding me into his arms. A ringtone suddenly chimed from the pocket of my jacket, and his hands froze against my back. He pushed me away gently. “Wait a second. Shouldn’t you be in school?”

  Crap. It was lunchtime now, and Sam had probably realized I’d disappeared. “Yeah, sort of. I faked a doctor’s appointment,” I said with a shrug.

  He scrubbed his face. “That was not a great decision, based on Nathaniel’s current hatred of me.”

  “Well, next time answer my texts,” I said indignantly. But the truth was I needed to get back as soon as possible. A doctor’s appointment that lasted a few hours would be much less suspicious than one that took me out for the rest of the day.

  “We need to get you back to class.” He tilted his chin toward the stable. Touching my shoulder briefly, he steered us across the field. The dogs were long gone, but Sally plodded along faithfully behind Dothan.

  Only her soft nicker interrupted the silence, and by the time we reached the fence, I couldn’t take it anymore. “So, are we broken up?” I blurted out. Every muscle in my body stilled as I waited for his reply.

  Troubled expressions shifted across his face, revealing his inner struggle. “I need to protect you,” he said finally.

  “I think that would be easier if you were, you know, actually around me. A lot.”

  The corner of his mouth turned up. “You’re not going to make this easy, are you?” he asked, slipping through the fence. His hands lingered on my waist as he helped me through.

  I shook my head. “Persistent. Remember?”

  His sad smile deepened just enough to expose a hint of the dimples beneath his blond stubble. “Yes. Now get to school.”

  “And when it’s over?” My breath caught as I waited for an answer.

  He sighed, pulling me closer. “Come back,” he said simply.

  Chapter 31

  I’d made it back for my last three periods, although I was five minutes late to health class. Apparently I’d looked flustered enough from my fake doctor’s appointment to warrant concerned questions about my own health from both Mallory and Lauren.

  Sam had caught me in the hall between classes, and I’d told her I would have to explain later. In the meantime, I needed to come up with an explanation that didn’t involve my grandfather’s fear of me being impregnated by a half angel. But all that mattered to me right now was getting back to Fox Run and convincing Dothan we belonged together, despite any remote future risk. Some unlikely scenario Nathaniel had dreamed up was not going to destroy our happiness.

  Ugh. Nathaniel. He was still at work, and he had to know I’d race to the barn after school. I’d received no message from him trying to stop me; apparently he knew he couldn’t keep me away forever. Maybe he figured Dothan would accept his reasoning. I wasn’t going to let that happen, though.

  I cracked a peppermint between my teeth viciously as I swung right onto Moss River Bend. Once I’d convinced Dothan we should be together, I would have to have a similar conversation with Nathaniel. One which would involve the success rates of various methods of contraceptives. Oh, God.

  My foot drifted off the accelerator as I rounded the curve in the road. A white bundle lay on the grass up ahead to the left. Dread crawled through my chest, filtering down to my belly. The white bundle had short legs and familiar brown markings. Rocky. Oh, no. I veered over to the side of the road and slammed the transmission into park.

  I darted across the pavement toward Rocky’s crumpled body, foolishly checking for traffic once I was already in the middle of the street. Thankfully, Moss River Bend saw little traffic. But a car had found Rocky. They didn’t even stop, I thought angrily as I dropped to my knees beside the foxhound.

  “I’m here, Rocky,” I murmured, stroking his heaving side. “It’s okay.” I prayed that was true as my mind tumbled through options. Should I try to move him? Would that hurt him more? If I left him, would he try to follow?

  He struggled to rise, and I saw a bright pool of blood leaking onto the grass beneath him. “Shhh,” I whispered. I rubbed behind his floppy ear as I shuffled around toward his back. Sliding my hands beneath his bottom shoulder and hip, I lifted him slightly to check the injury.

  A crimson hole marred the white fur of his right side. I laid him back down, confusion knotting the muscles at the base of my neck. It looked like a gunshot wound. Had he somehow been mistaken for a deer by a careless hunter? If so, the poor dog must have dragged himself out of the woods and across the street before collapsing.

  I needed to get him back to Fox Run. He’d made it this far on his own—hopefully carrying him to the car wouldn’t aggravate his injuries. “Dothan will know what to do,” I told him as I cradled him gently. He whimpered in response.

  Hurrying back across the street, I paused at my car. Damn. Only the driver’s side door was open, and I couldn’t put him there. I hadn’t thought this through. Lifting my knee to help support his weight, I pulled open the back door. My arms trembled as I laid him down gently on the seat.

  “Hang on, Rocky,” I said, diving into the driver’s seat. As I pulled my door closed, the passenger door flew open and a man jumped in beside me.

  My heart lurched. “Wha—”

  His fist shot out, slamming into my temple. My head snapped sideways and smashed into the window with an explosion of pain. The world turned gray as I wavered in and out of consciousness.

  “Ohhh,” I moaned. Scream, I ordered myself. But my lungs wouldn’t inflate, and no shrill cries for help emerged. I was asleep, trapped in a horrible nightmare. That had to be it.

  The dark-haired man yanked up my sweater, and I tried to coordinate my hands to fight him off. He deftly captured both of my wrists in one of his large hands. The other held a syringe, which he brought to his mouth. The orange cap came off in his teeth.

  No! I twisted my body in the seat, but the needle bit into the skin of my abdomen. The sharp sting brought me back to reality. This was really happening. Oh, God, what was he going to do to me?

  “Methohexital sodium,” he said, answering a different unspoken question. “Don’t worry, it won’t kill you. Neither will I, if you just keep quiet.”

  Adrenaline flooded my veins in a bright and fiery rush. I thrashed around as I yanked my knees up to kick at him. He stopped that by slinging his long leg across my thighs; the weight was like an iron band, pinning me down. I finally managed to pull air into my chest, but before I could let it out in a scream, the man’s free hand clapped over my mouth.

  “Don’t,” he said menacingly. His steely blue eyes bored into mine; a tiny muscle twitched on a lower lid. “No one will hear you.” He gestured with his chin toward the closed windows and the empty road. “Except for me, and I will find that infinitely annoying. So much so that I might just kill the dog. Do you want that?”

  My nose wasn’t blocked, but I was still having trouble drawing in enough oxygen. I kept my gaze on his as I shook my head slowly. Please, I thought silently. I can’t breathe.

  He shot me a stern warning look before removing his hand. His fingers raked the black hair from his forehead, then coiled around my wrists to help keep me bound.

  I gulped in the air, feeding my frenzied heart. What did this guy want? Was I about to be raped? I needed to come up with a plan, fast. But my thoughts drifted disjointedly through my pounding head. Had the impact injured my brain? Or were the drugs already taking hold? “You shot Rocky?” I mumbled as I tried to remember the location of my pepper spray.

  “That’s what you want to know?” he asked, laughing. “Here’s the deal. In about one more minute, you’ll be out cold. I’m not going to an
swer your questions, so just keep quiet until then.”

  Even if I knew where my pepper spray was, there was no way I could get it. His grip was like a vise, holding my hands immobile. The bones of my wrists sang with agony beneath his powerful fingers.

  Too strong. My last coherent thought flashed, a flickering light bulb in the encroaching darkness. Then nothing.

  A pounding headache was trying to split open my skull. I shivered violently, shifting in my seat. So cold.

  I dragged my eyes open. One of Beau’s saddle pads was on my lap, and I tried to bring it up higher to cover my chest. But something was wrong—under the cream-colored fleece, my hands were tied.

  Memories of the abduction came rushing back, and I snapped my head to the left. My captor was driving my car; he glanced over at me, then turned his attention back to the road. Wooded hills surrounded us on both sides, awash with colorful fall foliage.

  My muscles tensed, ready for fight or flight. But I was in a swiftly-moving car, in the middle of nowhere, with my hands bound with what felt like a plastic tie. Whatever drug he’d doped me with had turned both my brain and my body sluggish. Despite the panic beating through my veins, a small part of me wanted to shut my eyes and sink back into oblivion.

  Stay calm. That was my only hope of getting out of this. I needed to force myself to think. To remember details. I doubted I could engage this man in conversation, but I had to try. If I didn’t talk, I might lose my mind entirely.

  “Where are we?” I began, studying our surroundings. I recognized nothing. The scenery combined with the lack of civilization made me assume we were somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains; probably Catoctin, but I had no idea how long I’d been out.

  My gaze flicked to the dashboard clock as the man ignored me. It was 3:25. Only an hour had passed since I’d rushed out of school to get back to Dothan.