by Lola StVil
“Seven seconds.”
“Please, please come back,” Bex says as he rests his head on her chest.
“Damn it, Key, please get up!” Swoop cries.
“Does anyone know what the past said to her?” Swoop says hysterically.
“I don’t know. What’s the one thing a rape victim fears the most?” East asks.
“Six seconds.” Julian announces urgently.
“Move!” Diana shouts, suddenly jumping into action.
She makes us move away from Key. She then kneels down beside her. The rest of us rush to the basin to see what’s happening; the black bird falls on its back. Its eyes are closed and its wings show only slight movement. The bird is going to die.
“Key, listen to me. I know what she told you. And she lied to you,” Diana tells Key.
“Five seconds,” Julian says.
“She said you deserved to be raped because you’re high, but she was wrong, no one deserves it,” Diana cries.
“Four seconds.”
“She’s the reason you’re locked in there. She’s the fear. You have to destroy her!” Diana shouts.
“Three seconds.”
“YOU DIDN’T DESERVE TO BE RAPED AND NEITHER DID I. YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT. YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT. BUT FIRST YOU HAVE TO KILL HER. KILL HER!” Diana screams.
Just as the black bird takes its last breath, Key picks up a sharp stick that’s beside her, leaps to her feet, and plunges it into the center of her “past” self. Everything goes dark. The bird is dead.
Racked with worry, we turn to Key’s body lying on the living room floor. We don’t know if she got out in time. We watch her with bated breath to see if she has come back. There is no movement. Key is perfectly still. No one says a word. We just look at her and silently beg Omnis not to take her from us.
I look over at Bex and the sheer heartbreak in his eyes is more than one should have to bear. Swoop’s eyes are swimming in tears.
Please no…
Suddenly Key bolts upright and gasps for air. She latches on to Diana and sobs in her arms.
“It’s okay. It’s okay,” Diana whispers.
“She said it was my fault. She said…” Key cries.
“It’s over. The past is gone,” Diana replies, gently stroking Key’s hair.
“It hurts,” Key confides.
“I know. But it’s not forever, promise,” Diana replies.
And for the next few moments we watch a demon guide an angel out of hell…
***
We place Key in the guest bedroom and Diana gives her a mixture to help her Recharge. Julian promises that he will look after her and that the hard part is over. Key should be back to full strength in a few hours. I tell her that as long as she is able to resist her habit, she can rejoin the team.
“You guys need to get going,” Key says in a light whisper.
“I know, but we just want to make sure you are really okay,” Swoop says, taking her hand.
“I am, but Pry is not. So just leave me here and I will join you guys soon.”
“Key is right. We need to go, now,” I reply.
“I can stay with you while the team goes to talk to Noble. Then I can join them in the search for the Deed,” Bex says to his girlfriend.
“I know you want to be here with me, but it really would help me rest knowing that the whole team is helping to find Pryor. Go,” Key tells him.
“I think she’s right. We need to get back to the mission, like right now,” East adds.
“You look weak,” Bex says to her.
“Yes, and I will look better when I rest. I will rest when you get the hell out,” she teases him.
“Fine, I’m going,” he says, giving her a kiss.
“Maybe I should stay,” Swoop offers.
“No! Go. All of you,” Key insists.
“Okay, get some rest,” Swoop says as she kisses her twin on the forehead.
My cell phone vibrates and I pick up the call. I have a quick conversation with my dad and recount it to the team.
“No one knows where Bishop is, but according to the demons my dad has talked to, Bishop never works alone,” I tell them.
“So he could have a partner?” East asks.
“Word on the street is he has an apprentice,” I reply.
“Does Uncle Rage know who the apprentice is?” Swoop asks.
“No, but he’s headed to meet a contact of his and he’ll let us know as soon as he gets any info. In the meantime, we need to be in the air headed for Noble,” I order.
Bex turns to Key, whose eyes are nearly shut. The mixture is working. Soon she will be knocked out. The look of concern on Bex’s face is undeniable.
“Julian will text you updates on Key every half hour,” I promise him.
“My wife will gladly fuss over her. She loves taking care of people. Don’t worry about it,” Julian says.
He nods and agrees to come with us, as does Swoop. As they say their last good-byes, Julian takes me aside.
“You know why I’m not worried that my granddaughter is missing?” he asks.
“Actually no, I don’t,” I admit.
“Because I know your father. He’s a wrathful fucker. And your mother may have been an angel but I have seen her in battle; she was ruthless when she needed to be. So I’m not worried because I know you inherited all these traits from them. I’m not worried because I know you will do whatever it takes to get my grandchild back. Am I wrong?” he asks.
“No, you’re not wrong. I will find Pryor. No matter what,” I promise him.
“Good. And if someone needs to die to make that happen, angel or demon, do not hesitate. Do you hear me?”
“Absolutely.”
As Julian walks away, in my mind’s eye, I picture the powerful Guardian he used to be. I picture him fiercely defending the angel and human worlds from evil. I wonder if he misses it. I wonder if he ever longs to have his wings back…
Relieved that things are squared away with Key, I text Noble and let him know we are ten minutes away. Then, I look outside the window and I see Diana standing in front of the house. I walk out and stand beside her. She focuses on the passing cars and although she’s next to me, she seems a million miles away.
“Is everything okay?” she asks.
“Yeah, the team is saying good-bye to Key. They should be out in a few minutes. Then we can head to Noble and find out where the Deed is,” I tell her.
“Good,” she replies simply, without turning to face me.
“You did an amazing job in there. You saved her life—again,” I reply.
“She’ll be okay. The Soak will give her all the strength she needs to resist her addiction,” Diana replies.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask gently.
“I didn’t want you to think of me as weak.”
“You are a lot things, Diana. Weak is not one of them.”
We had these incredible nights and made it through some really close calls. We lived in the moment and it was exhilarating. We made love in exotic places and broke nearly every rule there was. Being with her was like getting caught in a cyclone. It was crazy, dangerous, and all consuming.
And back at Julian’s place, Diana showed so much courage in baring her soul. I knew she had a softer side, but I didn’t know to what degree. She really amazed me. Not just me but the entire team.
So why aren’t you two together?
Because the girl I want, the girl I’ve always wanted, is Pryor. Because I love Pryor so much I can’t bear the thought of a world without her. The whole time I was going around the world with Diana I wondered about Pry.
I wondered if she had laughed that day or if someone had hurt her. I worried that her life as a Noru was getting more and more difficult. And she needed me and I wasn’t around. Worse, I worried she didn’t need me.
I would see her smile on the surface of the things she loved like rivers and stained glass windows. She had a way of creeping into my heart and occupying
every corner of my brain. I remember kissing her for the first time; I remember it so well...
Anxiety starts to build when I think of what could be happening to her right now. I hear her screaming in my head. Then I start to question all my decisions. Should we have waited so long to get to Noble? Was it right to stay with Key? What if we are too late? What if Bishop pushed Pryor beyond her breaking point? Dear Omnis. What if Pry is in the White Room right now?
The horrors of the White Room come back to me. Things at The Center were bad, but when they put me in the White Room…that’s what made me want to die.
“Silver, watch out!” Swoop says as I nearly collide into the Eiffel Tower.
“Are you okay?” East asks.
“Yeah, let’s speed up,” I order.
The team does as I say and five minutes later we land in a cobbled street just off the main road. We read the numbers on the buildings, looking for Noble’s lab.
“Got it!” East says as he gets off his Port and heads for the blue oak door with complex carvings and clear see-through paneling on the side.
“We can’t just walk in there,” Bex tell us.
“You think Noble could have a trap set for us?” Randy asks.
“I don’t know, but it’s better we be ready for anything,” Bex replies.
“He’s right. Swoop, you take the roof. Bex and Diana enter through the side. Randy--”
“No, you’re not containing me inside a Holder,” Randy says adamantly.
While Randy protests, East looks through the side panel of the door into Noble’s home.
“Seriously, why can’t I come with?” Randy asks.
“It could be dangerous, you know that,” Swoop reminds him.
“I don’t think The Face would send us to her son if he was as deranged as his father; she’s on our side,” Randy counters.
“You can’t be sure,” Bex says.
“I’m not going in a Holder in order for us to meet with an angel; a demon, yes, but an angel? C’mon!” Randy insists.
“Randy, get in the damn Holder!” I demand.
“That won’t be necessary,” East says.
“Easton, we don’t know Noble. He could still be working for his father. He could have a trap for us,” Bex snaps.
“Noble can’t hurt us; he’s dead.”
Chapter Thirteen:
I Will Lead Them
We enter the hallway of the lab and find the half angel lying face up on the staircase with his eyes frozen. The last sight Noble saw was the ceiling of his lab. Someone had blasted him with a Powerball in the center of his chest. He’s been dead for a while now.
“Fuuuuuuuuuuuck!” I scream as I kick in the door and storm out.
The rage that grips me is impossible to control. I’m seething with anger and can’t keep my hands from shaking. Without warning, my palm is engulfed in flames. I hurl fireballs at the empty shops on the street and the windows blow out one by one.
“Silver, stop it!” Bird yells.
“ARGH!” I scream and set yet another building on fire.
“Silver, I know how hard this is, but you have to remain calm,” East says.
“This situation isn’t hard, East; it’s impossible!” I correct him.
“I know, but you still need to remain in control,” he replies.
“Noble was our only lead. Our ONLY lead!” I shout.
“Who do you think killed him?” Randy asks.
“Bishop may have taken him out,” Swoop says.
“You think he’d take out his own son so that we don’t find the Deed?” Bex says.
“If his dad is anything like mine, yes,” East says.
“I don’t care who took him out. What matters is that he’s gone and we are no closer to Pryor,” Bex snaps.
“She’s been at The Center for hours…” I say to myself.
“Silver, we’ll find her,” Randy says hopefully.
I know Randy is trying to help; they all are, but it’s no use. I know what Pryor is facing. I know she’s being introduced to the agony that no angel ever thought possible. And she’s facing it all alone. And for the first time since this ordeal began, I am forced to deal with the truth; we may not get to her in time.
This is all happening because I allowed myself to get close to her.
I have tried to keep the guilt at bay because I know it won’t help to bring her home. But now the tidal wave of blame is coming. It has been hanging in midair for hours and now it finally crashes down on me.
I sit down on the nearest steps and place my head in my hands. The voices of my team members start to fade. The streets, shops, and humans all fall away in my mind. It’s just my guilt and me now.
I promised myself that no matter what, I would protect her. I stayed away so that she could be safe. I returned in order to save her from a fire a few months back, but all I ended up doing was placing her in even more danger.
I should have stayed away. I should have never kissed her. I should have known that once I felt her lips on mine, I would never be able to pull away. Now she’s facing the worst moment of her life and it’s because of me. I didn’t just make a promise to myself that I would keep Pryor safe. She doesn’t know it, but I made a promise to her father, Marcus.
He came to see me before the incident in the alley with Key. I was getting into trouble even before then. I was skipping school, blowing off training sessions, and getting into fights with just about everyone.
I was such an asshole at the time. I was angry because my mom was taken from me and I never even laid eyes on her. I was angry that my father grieved for her and felt like he wished he had her with him instead of me. I was angry at—the world. The scene with Marcus plays in my mind as if it just happened.
That day, I was in the garage out back of my dad’s house, working on my motorcycle and ditching yet another day of school. My father was out of town, so ditching was a no-brainer for me. I didn’t hear the First Guardian enter until he spoke.
I looked up from the concrete floor and saw him standing over me. Marcus Cane was tall, with powerful wings and seriously intense eyes, and was without a doubt one of the most imposing angels on earth. Everything about him demanded your attention. He walked like a leader and spoke like someone who had faced and defeated death repeatedly.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” he asked.
“I’m sick,” I replied sarcastically as I got up from the floor and wiped the grease from my hands with the towel rag on my shoulder.
“Yeah, you’re on death’s door,” he quipped.
“My dad’s not home. He’s away on a mission,” I replied, hinting that there was no reason for him to be there.
“I know; I’m the one who sent him,” the First Guardian informed me.
“Then what do you want?” I asked.
“I’m here because I need you to do two things for me--two things that at first may sound contradictory. Yet I need you to do them both. And be exceptionally good at both.”
“Well, I have a long list of stuff to do, so maybe you can check back with me in a few months. Or better yet, try someone else. I don’t know if you’ve heard, but lately I’ve been more demon than angel,” I countered as I headed over to the nearby cart filled with tools.
“The two things I need from you, only you can give them to me,” Marcus said.
“Then you’re shit out of luck,” I replied.
Before I understood what was happening, Marcus had lifted me up by my neck and effortlessly pinned me to the wall. I didn’t want to show it at the time, but I was scared shitless. The Guardian looked up at me with a stern, hard glare. And when he spoke, his voice was calm yet deadly.
“You are my best friend’s only son. Your mother was my second in command and saved my life more than once. That is why I won’t rip your damn soul out and hurl it onto the sidewalk. But you ever speak to me in that disrespectful tone again it will be the very last thing you do. You got it?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled
.
He looked at me angrily for another moment and released me. I gathered myself and started putting the tools away. I was raging inside and started contemplating attacking him. But I knew it was foolish. For one thing, he could outmaneuver me, and while I was Noru, I wasn’t yet powerful enough to take on the legendary Marcus Cane.
Also, Marcus and my dad were best friends. And while he’s pissed off now, Marcus has always been there for my dad and me. His whole team rallied around us to make sure we were not only looked after but also protected.
Lastly, there was the matter of his daughter, Pryor. A girl I had been unable to get out of my mind. I didn’t know anything about girls at the time, but I knew attacking her father wasn’t the way to go.
Marcus took a moment to compose himself while I placed the tools in their rightful place. When the leader spoke again, his tone and facial expression had softened.
“You’re just like your mother,” he said with a hint of wonder.
“How’s that?” I asked.
“You both could bring out anger in me. I think it’s because I care about you both,” he admitted.
I shrugged my shoulders and pretended to be uninterested. The truth was I was always curious about the First Guardian and my mom. I knew they dated, but I never got the full details. Whenever the subject came up all anyone would say was that my mom ended up with my dad because that’s what was supposed to happen.
I’ve looked at them closely when they hung out and there didn’t seem to be any animosity between my dad and Marcus, although they were both in love with my mother before she was killed.
“Aaden, I know things are hard for you right now. I’ve heard about the countless fights and your repeated outbursts. You father even asked me if he should leave the team so he can look after you full time,” Marcus said.
“What? No, he doesn’t need to do that,” I replied.
“That’s what I told him. The simple fact is you have decided to allow what others think of you guide your actions and that’s an asinine thing to do. Rage leaving the team to be with you like you’re a toddler isn’t going to help because in the end, the only angel who can help you is you,” he said.
“Yeah, well I guess I’m just born to lose,” I countered, shrugging my shoulders again.