"Have we heard from Remy yet?” Arbor yawned. Lilith managed a strained smile and patted her hand, pulling the covers over Arbor’s shivering body.
"Not yet," she said but it didn't matter. Arbor was already asleep. She stepped back and looked at what she had done, the damage she had wrought on a woman she admired and in her way loved. It was a simple adoration potion, meant to make Arbor love her as one of her own, to look at her and accept her the way she had Celeste. It had worked to some degree, she had been welcomed into her own bedroom suite directly across from this room, but Arbor was dying and she had no way of stopping it. She wanted to tell Arbor, to explain that this was not what she wanted, this was not what was supposed to happen.
She wanted to bring Remy here so he could see his mother and offer her comfort, but that was not going to happen. They would know what she had done, know that she was the reason Remy stayed away. They would know that she, acting as High Regent, had the royal guard take Briar to the cells in the basement of the Collective where he was tortured out of spite. She'd made Remy watch as his lover had the skin on his back peeled away as he screamed in agony, his eyes on a teary Remy the entire time. She needed help, she needed to prove that she wasn't a monster, like her mother and father before her. She could be a bitch but she wasn't completely heartless, not really. And when they found out, and they would, there was no way around that, she would have to pay dearly. If she was lucky, she would make it out of this with her life.
"Dear lord," Lilith thought, lifting Arbor's brittle hand in hers. “What have I done?"
***
Nicky stumbled drunkenly into his hotel suite with two women draped on him. He was sweaty, shirtless and sporting a days' worth of beard stubble. Celeste had showered and changed into fresh jeans and a tank top and ordered room service by the time he crashed in. She stood with her arms folded across her chest, her face grim. The women saw her first, pausing at the sight of the six foot tall blue eyed beauty watching them.
"You have company, dear,” one of the women said. She had long dark hair and slightly Asian features and a British accent. The other, a rather manly looking young woman with close cropped hair and eyes that reminded her of steel ball bearings, wore a skirt that was barely there and a crop top that struggled to contain her ample bosom.
"Who's the slag?" crop top asked, giving Celeste an accusatory look. It was as if she thought Celeste was intruding. Celeste stared at her, her cold blue eyes sharp and penetrating.
"Nice mouth on this one, Nicky. I’m his sister." She folded her arms across her chest and leveled him with her withering stare. Nicky swallowed and disengaged himself from the women, sobering as he crossed the room.
"Ce, hey-" His face fell. She wondered how he managed to look like such a drunken slob and hurt little boy at the same time.
"I am so pissed off. I have been calling you for weeks, everybody has been calling you for weeks. Remy is missing, Briar is missing, Arbor is sick and you're fucking everything in Asia because I have a boyfriend. Well, boo fucking hoo, Nicholas," she’d slipped into Russian without realizing just how angry she was. "You have ignored the only family you have ever known. Grow up, Nicky.”
"You knew I was in love with you,” he began in Russian before slipping back into English. “You knew that I wasn't seeing anyone because -”
"I never told you not to date, Nicky. I never told you to pine after me like some love sick puppy. I asked you to be my best friend. I asked you to be there when I needed someone because I trust you above all others and you run away because of Karim?"
"He can give you what I can't!" he yelled.
"And you give me what he can't! You are my best friend, my brothers aren't as close to me, and you run off like a little bitch because your feelings got hurt? Suck it up man, get some balls!" she yelled back in English, getting into his face. They stood staring at each other, the heat rising between them as the tension in the room rose.
"Are you going to hit me, CeCe?" he asked.
"Depends. Are you done being a drama queen?" she shot back. He narrowed his eyes and sized her up, then the smile crept in and he embraced her. She relaxed and hugged him back still chastising him as they rocked back and forth in the living room of his hotel suite.
"I have missed you so much," he said taking a step back so he could look at her. "I hate to admit it, but you look good."
"And you look like you dressed yourself in clothes you got at a Billy Idol garage sale. What is this?" She pointed to his outfit of black leather and chains. "You look ridiculous." He laughed and hugged her again.
"Seriously though Nicky, please tell me you've heard from Remy?" He looked at her face, the worry in her eyes. "Arbor is dying," she said, and he sobered immediately.
"Come on, I'll grab a shower and you can tell me what's going on." He grabbed her hand and headed to the bedroom, the two women throwing their hands up in frustration.
"What about us?" the Brit asked. "What are we supposed to do?"
"Leave," Katie said from the door. She gave Celeste a wink and ushered the women out. "Come with me ladies and I will make sure you get some nice parting gifts." Celeste couldn't help smile. Hiring Katie was the best decision Nicky had ever made.
***
She felt completely defeated on the ride back to the airport, her head pounding and her eyes burning.
"I spoke to Remy the night I left for New York, Ce. I haven't heard from him since. I thought maybe he was pulling a Remy," he muttered while towel drying his hair. Remy was known for taking off for days with only his cell phone and a camera. It was how he relaxed and decompressed when the regimented life of being a soldier got to be too much for him.
"So you ignoring everyone was just you being an asshole?" She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Nick sat next to her on the bed and gave her leg a pat.
"Yes and I apologize. I never should have gotten so emotional that I would cut you guys out of my life. You are my family. The only family I know and I'm so sorry. Tell you what, I'll fly back with you tomorrow."
"I'm leaving tonight. In about an hour actually. I only came because you weren't talking and I need to find Remy like, ASAP. I'm just waiting for the new flight crew and the plane to be checked and re-fueled. Besides, don't you have like two more shows? You'll be home in a few days anyway. Finish up here first." She kissed his cheek and gave him another hug.
"I know that there are so many reasons you and I are better as friends. I understand. It just hurt to see you moving on." She touched his cheek and kissed him gently on the lips.
"You, Nicholas Skylar Novachek, are the one true, pure unconditional love of my life. No one will ever replace you in my heart," she said. He held her hand to his cheek and smiled.
"Get out of here. I have to talk to Katie and get some things taken care of then I'm coming home. Tomorrow. No arguments. My family needs me,” he said, giving her a bear hug before he let her go to her waiting town car.
***
Now alone in the backseat, she felt worse than before. Sure, she and Nicky were back on track, but she had no idea where to start in their search for Remy. She looked at her watch, it was a little after three a.m. and Downtown Tokyo still glittered with billboards and neon signs. She stared out of the window as a group of bikers roared by, turning her thoughts to Remy and his bike. He'd had several over the years, but he always had them custom painted to mimic the colors of a green tree python.
"It makes me stealthy,” he said. "Besides, it's my go-to shift when I'm pissed. Kind of like my spirit animal." She missed him so much and she was terrified that something had happened to him, something horrible. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about that. She wouldn't think the worst when the worst was already happening to Arbor. What she needed to do now was get home and try to help find a cure for whatever was affecting her mother.
Her cell phone rang in her pocket just as the car pulled into the tiny airport.
"I'll just be a second." She motioned to the driver as he helpe
d her out of the car. She handed him her overnight bag and stepped to the side, watching Lisette’s face light up her screen.
"Hey Lisey," she yawned into the phone. "Hey, I can barely hear you. Are you on the plane already?" There was a clatter in the terminal. She turned and saw one of the maintenance crew picking up an overturned tool box, while another yelled at him in Japanese. Frowning, Celeste walked outside running a hand through her hair.
"Sorry about that. I 'm not on the plane just yet, I'm about to board in a minute. I saw Nicky and he hasn't seen or heard from Remy in weeks. Lisey, I'm scared. It's not like him to disappear like this. And Briar..."
"About that, we've found Briar.” she said, then in a whisper. "Some of the soldiers said that Lilith had him tortured for some reason. No one knows why, but she brought in some of the Dark Fae to do it, Ce. And Arbor is getting worse. This is getting bad, hurry home sweetie. We need you."
"I will. I am," she said hanging up. She stood looking at the night sky, trying to stop the tears that threatened. Her family was falling apart and there was nothing she could do. She sniffed and looked down at her phone again. She could call Nyx and ask for help; she should call her. She looked over her shoulder and saw the driver and pilot looking at her, their faces concerned. She couldn't summon Nyx with the two of them staring a hole in her back.
She wiped her eyes and turned her phone on and began searching for Nyx's rarely used cell phone number. She walked further away from the terminal entrance, her head pounding as she dreaded this call. Stepping further into the shadows, she felt something moving above her. She looked up into the pitch of the starry night sky and saw something moving.
From a distance, it looked like a flock of birds to her. But it was moving stealthily and they were too large to be birds. As they came closer, she could see their large dark wings moving as one, dozens of pairs of red eyes glowing in the darkness and she froze. They were coming faster now, swooping down towards her like guided missiles.
"Oh shit," Celeste mumbled and turned to run, her goal to reach the front of the terminal where there would be light and people. They couldn't take her in the light. She felt relief when she saw the plane, the pilot standing on the tarmac just inside the hanger door. If only she could move a little faster, but the gravely ground was wet and slick beneath her feet. Her sneakers, though stylish, offered no assistance in her escape on the shifting pebbles. She slid, tried to right herself as the light from the hanger grew brighter, closer, she was almost there, almost safe.
Almost.
She was yanked backward, her feet leaving the ground as talons dug into her shoulder and lifted her into the air, soaring into the dark abyss. She dropped her phone, watching as it crashed to the ground and skittered across the tarmac, broken. She fought, only to have the razor-sharp claws dig deeper into her flesh. She stilled, closed her eyes and tried to breathe through the pain as her captors whisked her into oblivion.
When the pilot, ready for take-off, went in search of his passenger a few moments later all he found was her shattered cell phone a few feet from where she was last seen and nothing else.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Nyx didn't know what to expect when Karim had urgently summoned her. She had no idea what she was going to find when she manifested in Celeste's living room.
What she found was a rampaging vampire, his bare chest smoldering from the sunlight that streamed into the uncovered windows. Nyx snapped her fingers and the heavy drapes snapped closed, but that seemed to have no effect on him. He was practically snarling, pacing back and forth like a caged animal.
"She's gone," he said, his body seemed to vibrate, his eyes shimmering emerald when they turned to her. "I can't feel her anymore, Nyx. She just popped out of existence. I should have gone with her, I should have insisted that I went, to hell with the sun." Nyx stared at him, holding her hands up to still his pacing as she tried to understand what he was rambling about.
"What do you mean? What are you talking about?” she asked, and he stared at her as if he were just now noticing that she was in the room. He blinked and stared, then swallowed.
"She went to Japan to ask Nicky if he'd heard from Remy. People are missing, Nyx. Remy, his lover Briar, now Celeste and Arbor -" he frowned and shook his head. "She was trying to find Remy before Arbor dies."
Nyx sat down heavily, her eyes wide, her mouth dry. "And she went alone?"
"It was supposed to be a quick trip. Fly there and back. She was getting back on the plane, Lisette spoke to her and she was already at the airport. Then...nothing. They only found her phone. Is she still alive? I can't feel her, Nyx. I can't feel her anywhere." He grasped Nyx's trembling shoulders and gave her a shake, making her meet his gaze. She stared, and then it finally sunk in what he was saying.
"You are blood bound?" she asked. "But you can't- not with the mark- not with her-"
"We found a way. It's not as strong as it would be if she hadn't been claimed, but I could feel her. I felt her, she was tired and a little worried, but safe. Then she was gone," he said, sitting heavily on the coffee table. "She was just gone.”
They sat in silence, gripping each other's hands as they tried to calm themselves. Nyx looked at Karim, the right side of his bare chest scorched but healing. He hadn't even flinched, hadn't even calmed himself enough to block out the sun that was slowly killing him. His only concern then and now was Celeste. It had always been Celeste.
She looked at his face, the face of a man who had been devastated and was hurt and terrified into blind rage. Karim loved Celeste, not just loved her she was his entire reason for being, she was the one for him.
"We will find her," she said giving his hand a pat. "We will find her and we will destroy anyone who gets in our way," she said.
"And I know where to start," Karim said.
***
Lilith paced the living room of her father's Lakeview home, her clothes sticking to her in the sweltering heat. Even here, a few hundred feet from Lake Ponchartrain, there was no cool breeze drifting in from the water. She hated this room more than she hated her mother's entire house. Alexander had decorated the living room in red, white and blue; it looked like a fourth of July float had exploded. She sat on the bright blue sofa and shook her head at the flags and historical décor; it was strictly pandering, she knew it and he knew it.
He was on the telephone, that perfect twinkling smile still in place even though the person he was speaking to couldn't see just how handsome and charming he truly was. He laughed at something, a laugh that she knew to be fake, and she rolled her eyes. He looked at her and she stared back impatiently, tapping her sneaker foot.
"Skip, I'll call you back. My daughter came in and she looks like she really needs to speak with me," he said. "Yes, daughters, probably some boy trouble." He laughed again and she groaned.
He hung up and looked at her, his handsome face set in stony emotionless silence.
"What is it now?" he asked, clearly uninterested in whatever had Lilith on edge.
"Arbor Kent is dying and I think it's my fault," she blurted, and he reacted by lifting his brow. "I gave her an adoration elixir and she got sick, really sick. I can't fix it, how do I fix it?"
He placed his palms on his desk, and rose slowly, his blue eyes darkened and his tanned skin reddened. She took a step back, when thick dark horns uncurled from beneath his perfectly coiffed dark hair.
"You," he said through clenched teeth, "have damned us, you stupid, selfish, little insignificant child." He moved toward her and she continued stumbling back until she fell onto the sofa. She swallowed and stared up at her father who had grown in stature and girth. The seams of his dress shirt strained and ripped, sinewy muscles poking through thin cotton, heat radiating from him bring the temperature in the house to a scorching one hundred and ten degrees.
"Arbor Kent is a sylph, a nature element. She is of the earth and you have poisoned an aspect of the earth, upset the balance of nature. She must remain pure or it can be catastroph
ic. Why do you think she is untouchable? No harm is to ever come to any elemental. “He inhaled.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted ... I just …how do I fix it?" she asked, tears burning her eyes.
"You can't. She will die and you had better pray to whoever it is you pray to that this place, these people, this part of the world, doesn't get blown away with her. What you have done could cause a war. What you have done can cause the Collective and the Council of the Gods to destroy us, to wipe the Dark Fae out of existence. Do you understand? Do you see what you've done with your jealousy? You have brought WAR to my door." He grabbed her upper arms, his dark talon-like nails digging into her flesh, his skin burning her and she cried out. He snarled, exposing a row of sharpened yellow teeth, a forked tongue slithering out and touching her cheek, leaving a thick trail of saliva. He held her closer, his mouth close to her ear and she closed her eyes, anticipating the next strike. She was sobbing, her chest heaving and her body shaking.
"I would kill you right now, if I did not love you. And if you weren’t my one true heir. You leave this place right now or I will end you, Lilith." He released her and she fell to the floor in a heap. She shook, unable to make her legs work, unable to do anything but truly cower in his presence. He stomped out of the room, dark cloven hooves ripping the fine Italian leather of his loafers and leaving scorch marks on the bright red carpet. She laid there, her tears and her pain all too real. When she could, she struggled to her feet and ran out of the house, never looking back and never planning to return.
***
"Ready?" Katie leaned against the door frame of Nicky's hotel bedroom, her eyes on the useless itinerary in her hands. When Nicky had risen that morning, when the call had come that Celeste was missing, he'd canceled all of his plans, much to the chagrin of the band and his manager. They had been only a little more understanding when he said he'd send the private jet back for them. Only Katie seemed undisturbed by the news. In fact, she seemed to expect it, and she was surprisingly quiet about the entire thing.
Mark of the Fallen: A Fallen Novel Page 25