A cool, crisp voice came on over the speakers. "The captain has turned on the seatbelt sign and we are preparing the cabin for landing. We’ll be touching down in Los Angeles in about 20 minutes."
"Have ya ever met Bristol?" the man asked. "She’s a real peach, that one. She’s gonna find you real interesting, especially that blood of yours."
She said nothing, so as not to give away that she was starting to regain feeling in her fingers. I am strong, she told herself. I can escape whatever this man has planned for me.
She repeated that mantra in her head over and over again until the plane landed at LAX airport.
Chapter 22 - Brie
The man pushed Brie through the LAX airport in a wheelchair, with a wrap over her head that seemed to deter any attention they might receive. It was working—the vast crowds of people at LAX, the celebrity capital of the world, were completely ignoring her. No one seem to recognize her.
She felt sick to her stomach over it, and also amazed that a few props was all it took to disguise herself. If she had known it were that easy, she might have done it months ago.
In the meantime, she needed someone to recognize her. She twitched her lips again, finding a small bit of relief in the movement she felt. She hummed from her throat, as low as she could so the man couldn't detect it. She could make sounds again. Soon, she would be able to form words, and then maybe she could find help.
Though, she knew her window of opportunity was closing faster than she had hoped. In a few minutes, they would be at the doors leading out of the building, where he could put her in a taxi and whisk her off to God knows where. She would have no reprieve then, not when she lost the crowds around her. He could easily take her to an abandoned warehouse and she would never see her family again.
The panic in her chest continue to grow, though she tried to breathe in and out to calm herself down. She couldn't lose it, not now. She had to be patient and not tip the man off. She didn't want him to inject her with something again.
She searched the crowd, her heart racing just a little faster each time she saw a wisp of blonde hair. But none of those blonde manes were attached to Sirena. She had hoped that someone would come to rescue her, but she knew now that she had been too optimistic; if Sirena was looking for her, she hadn't predicted this man's movements correctly. Otherwise, she would be here by now.
No—she was on her own this time. If she wanted to survive, she would have to figure out a plan that she could execute herself.
She thought back to what the man had said earlier. She didn't know much about him, aside from his looks; a silvery patch of hair on his head and eyes to match. She had mentioned that he was taking her to meet someone named Bristol—so he must just be a lackey. Who could this woman possibly be, though? The man was clearly supernatural; could it be a woman of the New Order? Could it be the head of the Nephilim? She didn't know. She felt so unprepared and helpless about anything in the Hallow world.
The man wheeled her toward the automatic doors that led to the outdoors, and she felt hopelessness sinking in. She wasn't going to escape at the airport. He was going to wheel her out and put her in the vehicle and take her somewhere where she would have no chance of breaking free.
Sirena! she called out in her mind. She knew that some Hallows had gifts; maybe her’s was telepathy. I’m at the LAX airport in a wheelchair! she screamed in her mind. She was desperate for something, anything that might help Sirena find her.
They moved toward the parking lot, and every cell in Brie’s body rebelled. The man seemed to notice. "Ya think this is a picnic for me? I could give a rat’s hat about you. There’s a hundred of you in my past, I’ve had ‘em all. All I want my place back, my life back. Your friend Thessa stole it from me, and I’m stealing it back. That’s all this is. And if Bristol wants a little mule like you, then she gets it.”
His breath brushed against the edge of her ears, tickling her. She was so disgusted by him and she wanted nothing more than to smack his face away from her. It took every bit of will she had to stare straight ahead and not flinch at his slightest touch. She could feel it now, in her neck; she knew that when the time came she would be able to move her head. If the time came, that was.
But no matter; she could tell that she was at least regaining her ability to move. If she could just pretend that the thing he had injected her with was still working, she might be able to use surprise to her advantage. She hoped she would have a chance. If only she could buy just a little more time…
The man kept going on, talking to her in ramblings that only made some sense to her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed a girl a little older than her eying her curiously. She was the first person who had looked at her since they had gotten off the plane. The girl had a plumper body, curly hair, and olive skin. She was strikingly beautiful, but there was something about her that was slightly off; perhaps the way she dressed, with clothing that looked far too womanly for her, or perhaps the way she looked much older and much more tired than her years would let on. A name sprang forth in her mind—Thessa. She could sense it in every bone of her body.
But how? How did Thessa know where she was? Clara and Cora must've contacted her somehow.
The man didn’t seem to notice Thessa, perhaps because he was too preoccupied spouting off a steady stream of vulgarity in her ears.
They rolled into the parking garage, which was filled with cars and empty of people, just as she had suspected it would be. Her chance to escape was now or never. She was so sure that if she got into any vehicle, no one would ever see her again. She couldn't even begin to imagine what that would do to her family, and especially what it would do the Pilot. He hadn't even accepted his own mother's death yet; what would he do if he lost her as well?
He would blame himself, she thought. Her heart clenched in pain at the thought of how that would make him feel. She couldn't let that happen. Pilot deserved better from her.
She couldn't see Thessa anymore without turning her head, so all she could do was pray that the girl was somewhere behind her, following at a safe distance. She wasn't sure how Thessa planned to rescue her, but hopefully she brought backup.
The man stopped her wheelchair, clicking its brakes into place, and came around to the front. He knelt down in front of her, his piercing silver eyes boring into her, like a drill mining for precious gold. She reminded herself to only let her eyes follow him, making no other movements that might tip him off. She tried not to react to his blustering face; she knew it would only take a small movement in her face to give away how much she was able to move already.
He ran his fingers through his silver-white hair. "You have no idea who or what yer are, do you? A daughter of Michael and—“
A wisp of blonde hair flashed between her and the man.
Sirena!
The silver-haired man hadn’t seen her coming, and her aunt easily thrashed his body onto the cold cement floors, straddling him.
Brie scrambled out of the wheelchair to help her. She found her legs and stood up, lasting all of two seconds before immediately collapsed to the ground, landing on her head because she hadn't been able to hold her hands out fast enough to catch her fall.
Sirena had had the element of surprise, but the man was much larger and far stronger than she was. He threw her off of him easily, laughing as he did it. Then, he stood up and lifted her above his head, throwing her across the garage. Her limp body crashed onto the concrete 15 feet away, and Brie could hear the cracking of bones.
"No!" she cried out, slurring her words. She licked her lips and tasted her own blood pooling around her cheek.
The silver-haired man's attention flashed back toward her. He grinned evilly. "Yer stronger than I thought, little mule. The injection I gave you would've killed an earthlie, would have stifled a Hallow for days and days, but—”
Thessa crashed into him, dragging him to the floor again. This time, there was a look of recognition in his eyes. "Thessa Torres," he said. “I was won
dering if you’d figure out how dumb you were. Guess you didn’t find your blood of Luci—”
She cut him off at the throat, pressing her fingers into his neck. "You shouldn't be here, Branson. I asked you to do one simple thing, and you couldn’t—"
The man snarled at her, wriggling free from her clutches and sliding her onto her back. “You will not ruin this for me, ya old hag. I don't know how you escaped last time, but she—“ he pointed at Brie, “—is my ticket back into Bristol's good graces."
He shoved his hands into Thessa's chest and she screamed louder than anything Brie had ever heard in her entire life. She felt tears streaming down her face, and she willed herself to move forward, crawling toward them, to do anything she could to make Thessa's pain stop.
"You are weak," Branson said derisively. "It is true then—you are able to die. For so long I thought that you were invincible, and that was how you escaped, but yer proving to just be very difficult to kill.”
He twisted his arm, and Thessa screamed again, this time sounding more like a plea. "If you're going to kill me," she coughed out, "just finish it already."
She was only a foot away, but to her dismay, Branson replied, “As you wish." He twisted his arm for the last time, and Thessa’s scream began to have a pulse, like a mixture of a shriek and a whimper, replaying over and over again.
Brie forced herself to stand up, wobbling toward the man and falling directly onto his back. She wrapped her hands around his neck and squeezed, using the last of her energy to pull him backwards and roll him on top of her. She held onto him as tightly as she could, in hopes that Thessa might stand and fight, but she lay there limp and unconscious. Was she dead? Brie’s tears came faster down her cheeks as she held on for dear life while the silver-haired man tried to struggle free.
A shadow cast over her and a hand plunged deep into the man’s chest. His body went limp and she slid out from underneath him, just in time to see Sirena’s hand pull a glowing, silver orb from between his ribs.
“Bye, bye,” she whispered.
The man’s eyes widened as she crushed the orb in her fist, turning it to ash.
His eyes went dead, and Brie knew he was no longer a threat.
She crawled toward Thessa, watching Sirena spill the man’s ashes over his inanimate body.
“She still has a pulse,” she whispered. She struggled to wrap her arms around Thessa’s body, but her arms were still like putty and she couldn’t get a firm grasp. “Sirena! Help me with her!”
Sirena walked over to Thessa, suspicion in her movements. “Leave her here,” she told her. “Thessa will come to in a few minutes—she always does. Clara will find her.”
“She saved my life,” Brie said, shocked by Sirena’s harsh words.
Sirena grabbed her arm. “And now I’m trying to save your life. It’s not safe here. How many times do I have to say it? If there was one of them, there could be more. If people know who you are, the best thing you can do is hide. Don’t you get it?”
“Just like that?” she asked. “We aren’t even going to make sure Thessa is okay?”
“Thessa would understand!” Sirena said, a frantic panic in her voice. “Now, get up so we can get away from here before someone else comes after us.”
Brie couldn’t believe that Sirena would leave Thessa there when she thought they might still have enemies lurking in the parking garage. She didn’t move from Thessa’s side. “I can’t,” she told Sirena. “I won’t leave her.”
Sirena glanced at Brie skeptically, reminding her of her mom’s angry look. “Is Thessa the only reason you won’t come with me?”
Brie shook her head slowly, unable to find the right words to explain.
A look of fury mixed with sadness crossed Sirena’s face. “You still think that Thessa has the solution for you. Don’t you get it? Didn’t you hear what that guy said? They knew each other. Thessa is probably the reason he came after you. She probably gave away your secret, in exchange for something from someone that served her or her family.”
“You don’t know that,” Brie said. “You’re so paranoid, you don’t trust people, you make up these… outrageous claims—”
“I’m alive is what I am,” Sirena said. “And I wouldn’t be alive if it weren’t for making hard decisions and making survival my only priority. Brie, your life is not a game to play with. You’re one of a pair of the last daughters of Michael on earth.”
“It’s not that simple,” Brie said, holding Thessa’s hand and listening for her breaths. “You need people. We all do. That’s why we need Clara and Cora and Thessa to help us.”
Sirena gave her a look of betrayal that took away all her fierceness. In that moment she looked like a scared girl; a few seconds later the fierceness was back, with anger at a new level.
“I should have known how weak you would be, just like your mother.” Sirena spun on the balls of her feet, away from Brie, and walked toward the airport.
“Sirena, wait!” She rose to her feel clumsily and chased after Sirena, loosely catching her arm in her putty hands.
Sirena flipped back around violently. “You’re either in or you’re out, Brie. I’m not going to risk my life on a daily basis to protect you, just to have you shove it in my face in the end.”
“Please stay with me,” she begged. “Come back to Honolulu with me.”
“Are you crazy? You were already attacked there once! And it will happen again and again because you are trusting the wrong person. I don’t want to lose another family member.”
“I can’t leave Pilot,” she said. “I owe him—”
“No!” Sirena said forcefully. “My answer is and will always be no.” She looked up. “Clara’s coming,” she said.
Brie had no idea how she knew.
“Just stay,” she begged.
Sirena pulled Brie toward her in a sloppy, uncomfortable half-hug, releasing her quickly. “Good luck with life, kiddo. I wish this had worked out.”
Brie wiped tears from her eyes.
Sirena took several steps forward and disappeared, transporting away.
Chapter 23 - Pilot
Pilot waited in the No Parking lane of the Honolulu airport, waiting for his sister to emerge. He hadn’t called James yet; he wanted to make sure he had her before doing anything else.
The text that came just a few hours earlier didn’t include any explanation. It only said to meet her at the airport at 5:45 PM. A part of him wanted to send a car—he wasn’t her errand boy—but the responsible part of him kicked in and realized that it would be less conspicuous if he simply picked her up himself.
She rushed out the doors, looking like she’d been through hell. Back-to-back flights could do that to you, he knew, but he didn’t feel the slightest bit sorry for her.
Oddly, she didn’t have any luggage. It was as if she have left in a hurry. Still, if she had planned to leave, wouldn’t she have brought more?
His sister breezed into the car like she hadn’t been missing for nearly 20 hours already. She slammed the door shut and turned to him.
“Thanks for picking me up,” she said, sounding defeated and exhausted.
He didn’t care; he was defeated and exhausted too.
“That’s it?” He couldn’t believe the nonchalance with which she spoke. “You’ve been missing for an entire day. You tell me to pick you up at the airport, and that’s all you have to say for yourself?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was worried sick about you. I didn’t know if I was ever going to see you again, or if I was going to hear about something awful happening to you on the news.”
“I said I was sorry.”
“Well, you better start saying more than that.”
Brie was silent.
An attendant waved for them to move out of the way. He shifted his car into gear and took off. They rode in silence for several minutes, when he finally said, “Can you at least tell me if you’re okay?”
“I’m okay.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I thought I wanted to see Dad, but I chickened out.”
“There has to be more to it than that,” he said. “Did you ever stop to think about how this would make me feel? You could at least tell me something that would make me understand why I’ve been through hell the last 12 hours, sick to my stomach about you.”
“Can we just go home?” she begged. “Talk about this later?”
He sighed. “I’m so disappointed in you. This is the most selfish thing you’ve ever done. I just… I can’t look at you right now.”
She had tears in her eyes. “I’m sorry, Pilot. I’m so sorry.”
He didn’t know if her apology was enough. He wanted an explanation for a lot of things in his life—the dreams, his encounter with Kennedy, this bizarre disappearance from Brie.
No one seemed willing to give him answers, but the oddities were overwhelming. Something larger was happening, and he was going to find out what it was.
Chapter 24 - Thessa
Thessa woke in a cold sweat, as she always did when she had her visions.
Her wounds from the trip to Los Angeles had healed, but the part of her soul that Branson had touched still felt damaged. She had almost died. A few days earlier, in Barcelona, death was all she wanted; but in that instant, when death was whispering to her, tempting her to the other side, she could only think of all the conversations she still needed to have with Clara, Cora, Sirena, Brie, others. There were so many people who deserved the truth, and she had kept it from them. To protect them, yes, but still. She could not protect them from the grave. She owed them that, at least.
She felt like their enemies were closing in on them from all sides. After all these years that she had tried to keep the girls safe, tried to survive in peace, her choices were finally catching up with her.
Instruments of the Angels (Hallows & Nephilim: Waters Dark and Deep #1) Page 30