Taking Angels (The Angel Crusades)

by CS Yelle

  Trish and the girls pulled up alongside me about a block from the Parks’s house.

  “What happened? Did you talk to him?” Trish spoke first.

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  “And.” Elisa watched me, curious.

  “Allister and Angelina were in Toronto, but Kendal doesn’t know where they are now.”

  “Why is he back?” Cassie wanted to know.

  I gave her a flat stare and she nodded with realization.

  “He’s back because of you,” she answered her own question.

  “He made it sound like the easy pickings motivated his return, but I doubt it,” I sighed, knowing as I spoke that I was right.

  “I can tell you’re not too happy about a psychotic Eternal having a thing for you, but what aren’t you telling us?” Trish read me like a book.

  “I think Bastion let Kendal escape so he could find me,” I told her.

  The girls sat speechless, a rare thing for them, at least all at the same time anyway.

  “Don’t worry.” I did my best to put confidence behind my words. “He assured me not even Bastion could track him back here.”

  They nodded, visibly relieved, something I couldn’t afford to feel.

  Chapter 23 I hopped out of the Jeep in front of my house, the sleek black reminder still parked at the curb. I glanced at it in passing and pulled my eyes away reluctantly as I walked up the porch steps.

  “Mom, I’m home,” I called. Nothing. I walked into the kitchen noticing a note on a yellow legal pad sitting on the island.

  “Britt, we have dinner plans with the Hastings. Leftovers in the fridge. Won’t be too late. Love, Mom.”

  I turned from the island, opening the fridge door, staring at the Tupperware labeled with tape. MeatloafMonday. Lasagna-Sunday. Chili-Saturday. I spun away, swinging the door shut on the menu of Minnesota standards. The only thing missing: Tater Tot Hot Dish. Oh there it was, behind Saturday’s Chili; Tuesday’s delicacy.

  Realizing my lack of appetite, much less after seeing what waited in the fridge, I climbed the stairs to my room, dropped on my bed, and rolled onto my back. A twinge between my shoulders reminded me of the collision with Gabe and the subsequent back rub. I smiled at the memory.

  I glanced at my dresser as I turned to flick on the light on my nightstand. A red and black box sat on the dresser and I leapt to my feet, realizing its contents. My new phone. My waterlogged one from my jaunt to Canada, later shattered by Kendal had left me without my most used communication device. I tore into the packaging, pulling the shiny touch screen phone out of the plastic. I unwound the charging cord and plugged it in with great anticipation.

  I pulled homework out of my backpack and paged through the notes and textbooks. Every so often, I checked the progress of the charging phone and then dropped back down on the bed in disgust.

  Unwilling, or more like unable to wait for the charge to finish, I pulled the plug and powered the phone up. It took forever for the phone to cycle through the startup and I tapped anxiously on the dresser as the little hour glass spun on the screen, infuriating me every time it I checked only to see it still spinning. I looked yet again just as the spinning hour glass flashed off and the red connection arrow blinked over and over again, the little message symbol adding numbers in front of it, one after another. By the time all the messages were downloaded on the phone, it read 43 text messages.

  I opened the first message, from Angelina.

  Going after Bastion and Allister, hope you get home safely. Will text later. For the next hour I paged through the texts, a random voicemail mixed in, from Angelina, telling me they were doing everything to stop Bastion and get Allister to Greece.

  Around text message number thirty-eight, the messages got shorter and more worrisome.

  Britt, we landed in Athens. Bastion and Allister within our reach.

  Still looking for Allister, Bastion has gone underground with him.

  Saw Mother and Father today. They are being held until Allister comes forward.

  Father went on trial today for Allister’s crime of creating, will write more, later. I stopped reading, letting my hand holding the phone drop into my lap. Angelina meant me. Victor was on trial because Allister created me. I steeled myself and lifted the phone to keep reading.

  Good news. Father found not responsible for Allister’s actions. Still haven’t located Allister and Bastion.

  Bastion turned Allister over to the Greek Eternal Council today. Allister looks defeated before trial even begins. Trial halted today until more evidence of Allister’s crime can be brought forward. Britt, be careful. I think Bastion intends to search for you as evidence. If Bastion brings you to Athens, Allister could be sentenced to death. If no other evidence is found, maybe life in prison.

  I dropped the phone this time. It bounced off the carpeting and slid against the dresser. Did she know Kendal came back to Grand Rapids? That Bastion might be on his way here searching for Kendal?

  I crouched to the floor and crawled over to retrieve my phone. I tapped out a message on my keypad. Kendal is in Grand Rapids. Will Bastion be able to find him here?

  I pressed Send.

  I hoped for an answer right away, but none came.

  I stared at the phone, willing it to chime with a text from Angelina, but nothing. I sat on my bed, leaning against the headboard, horrified at the possibilities facing Allister. Prison or death? When given those two choices, what would Allister want? For me, an everlasting lifetime without Allister seemed too overwhelming. Give me death.

  I’d started to doze off when a chime from my phone woke me with a start. I jerked the phone up and opened the text from Angelina.

  Britt, Kendal is good at avoiding detection. Chances are Bastion won’t get within 300 miles of you. Don’t worry. Angelina.

  Don’t worry. Yeah, right. Questions and thoughts rolled through my mind. I didn’t know where to begin, so I typed the first one I caught.

  Tell Allister I love him. Send. I felt exhausted. I set the phone on my night stand and slid down so my head rested on my pillow. I didn’t even have the strength to get under the covers. I curled up on my comforter and fell into a deep, fitful sleep.

  I should have known better. Should have reminded myself where I would end up; in Kendal’s mind. Luckily I never had to hear his thoughts, but everything else played through my vision like a movie in HD.

  He stood, or should I say, we stood outside a nice brick home with black shutters and a large porch. No, I screamed. Not this house. Kendal, no, not this house. He walked up the stairs onto the porch, looking in a dark window. I felt a tingling sensation and then we looked at a bed, covers pulled up on the person sleeping so only the her blond head showed.

  I knew the bed, I knew that blond head. Kendal! Kendal! I screamed frantically. Get out, don’t you dare! I never knew if he heard me or not, but I did everything I could to reach his mind. You sick sadistic bastard, not this house! Not this bedroom! Not, Cassie!

  Cassie rolled over, restless in her sleep. She cracked her eyes a sliver, and then they flew open. Her mouth stretched wide to scream and then she stopped. Recognition and resignation mixed in her expression. She knew Kendal, had witnessed him up close when he kidnapped me on the way back from Duluth. She knew what he did and what he was about.

  She sat up, staring right at him; not turning away in fear even though I could see her body shaking with terror.

  “Kendal.” She spoke and I actually felt him flinch. “Kendal,” she repeated, this time without a reaction from him. “If you hurt me, you’ll hurt Britt.”

  Kendal stopped. Not moving one way or another, standing as if in thought. Consideration.

  “Why would I care?” he whispered.

  “I know you don’t want to hurt Britt.” Her voice shook. “You don’t want to hurt the person you love.”

  “I don’t love her,” Kendal shouted.

  Good, maybe Cassie’s parents will hear and scare him off. I closed my eyes and
urged her parents to wake up.

  “Of course you love her,” Cassie, gaining control of her voice, spoke more confidently.

  “It doesn’t matter. She loves Allister,” Kendal said evenly.

  “Allister may not come back,” Cassie countered.

  Good girl, I thought. Keep him thinking. The longer you delay the more chance we have of saving you.

  “No, he may not,” Kendal agreed, his voice softer, lighter.

  “All you need to do is not hurt her and when Allister doesn’t come back,” she stopped, letting Kendal’s imagination do the rest.

  “You’re right,” Kendal said, hope in his voice.

  I felt tingling and we were out in the street once more and then I sat upright in my bed, my hair matted to my head with sweat and my clothes damp with perspiration. Grabbing my phone I hit C for Cassie on my speed dial.

  “Hello?” Cassie answered on the first ring. “Cassie, are you alright?” I shouted into the phone.

  “How’d you…you were with him?” Cassie gasped, her fear audible.

  “I screamed my lungs out trying to get him to stop.”

  “I was so scared.” Cassie began to cry. “I thought I was dead.”

  “You were friggin’ awesome,” I praised. “The way you remembered he loved me, brilliant!”

  “I didn’t think it’d work,” she sobbed, her emotions getting the better of her.

  “But it did, girl, it did.”

  We stayed on the phone the rest of the night. We mostly listened to the other breathe, yet neither of us could hang up until dawn lit the morning sky.

  “Bye Cassie,” I whispered, exhausted, into the phone.

  “See you in a bit.” Cassie chuckled weakly.

  I hit the end button and felt relief for the first time since Kendal stood on Cassie’s front porch.

  I got up from bed, resolving to speak with him and letting him know my unhappiness with him if he hurt my girls, or their family. Maybe I’d give it another shot at making him stop. Play on his feelings for me. Him quit? Not likely, I sighed heading to the shower.

  The Jeep’s horn sounded way too soon and I threw my clothes on and ran down the steps, only to run back up to gather my backpack and race down again. I jumped into the seat and noticed Cassie missing.

  I looked to Elisa and Trish, my mouth hanging open and eyes wide.

  “She’s okay, just exhausted,” Elisa explained quickly.

  “Surprised you look as good as you do.” Trish nodded.

  “She told you?” I asked.

  “Called to tell me she wouldn’t need a ride,” Trish said. “Spilled the entire story in two seconds flat.”

  “So it’s true, Kendal went to kill her?” Elisa gasped.

  “Yeah, and I came along for the ride.” I nodded. “I have to hand it to the girl, she thought fast. Told him if he hurt her, he’d hurt me and lose any chance he had at being with me.”

  “But she lied.” Elisa leaned forward between the seats as Trish pulled away from the curb.

  “Totally.” I smiled at her. “Like I would love a murderer like Kendal.” I shook my head, smiling fondly, “It’ll always be Allister for me.”

  A roar of pain ripped through the morning air and Trish trounced on the brakes as a figure jumped out in front of the Jeep.

  Chapter 24 Kendal slammed his hands on the hood of the Wrangler, crumpling the metal as if it were tin foil. His eyes met mine and I knew he’d heard me. His face twisted in rage as his dark eyes threw daggers through me. He held my stare and, ever so slowly, his wrath filled face softened and a little smile spread across his lips.

  It sent a shiver down my back and the hairs on my arm stood on end. In a blink, he vanished. I knew where he headed and I screamed to Trish as she tore out, laying a patch of rubber and sending smoke from all four tires. We squealed around corners and accelerated to nearly sixty miles an hour on the straight stretches.

  I leapt from the Jeep before Trish came to a complete stop, tumbling on the pavement and tearing up my hands, arms, and knees through my jeans as the material shredded on impact with the abrasive surface. I sprinted up the front porch steps, burst through the front door and raced up the stairs. Throwing open Cassie’s bedroom door, I came upon Kendal. He stood, holding her above the floor with one hand around her neck.

  I cried out, furious, hurling myself into Kendal with all my strength. I bounced off him, not budging him in the slightest as I collided with Cassie’s desk on the rebound.

  “You think you can trick me?” Kendal shouted. “I’ll show you what happens when you try to make a fool out of me.”

  “No,” I cried out as I scrambled to my feet, lowered my shoulder and rammed his stomach. Air rushed out of Kendal’s lungs at the impact, doubling him over, though he didn’t relinquish his hold on Cassie, now beginning to turn white.

  I picked myself up off the floor again, bracing for another charge when Kendal backhanded me across the face. My head exploded in pain, my back hitting the wall and dresser as I crumpled to the floor. I watched through blurry eyes, watering uncontrollably from the pain radiating through my back and legs.

  Kendal stood tall, holding Cassie away from his body with an extended arm. The telltale mist began to drift from Cassie’s limp body as I tried in vain to get up.

  A flash of light blinded me, leaving nothing but spots where objects should be. Kendal roared in agony and then anger. Then there was nothing. Silence. The only the sound, my sobbing.

  Gentle hands eased me off the floor and lay me on Cassie’s bed. I felt myself rub against someone else in the bed and I looked, blinking wildly to clear my vision. I reached over, feeling Cassie’s long, soft hair. I touched her cheek, pulling back convulsively. Her skin was cold to my touch.

  The room erupted with activity as people rushed in to where we lay on the bed. I tried to focus, but only vague images dominated my vision.

  “Britt, my name’s Eric, I’m here to help you,” the man said. “Where are you hurt?”

  “Back, legs,” I gasped. The pain was so overwhelming, my thoughts burst like bubbles as soon as they formed. I felt the bed move and Cassie’s cool flesh disappeared from my fingertips.

  “No, wait,” I cried, hearing the bodies rush from the room and down the stairs.

  “Don’t worry, you’re going to be alright,” Eric told me.

  “Cassie?” I asked.

  “They’re doing everything they can for her.”

  But I knew from experience, Kendal didn’t leave anything to heal. His touch was complete; final.

  They strapped me to a backboard, lifted me on a gurney, and carried me downstairs, my eyes finally starting to focus. We hurried out the front door and I heard Trish and Elisa cry my name.

  I raised my hand in their direction, not yet able to see that far clearly. A hand clasped mine and another touched my shoulder.

  “It’ll be okay, Britt,” Trish said. I heard the tears in her voice.

  “Cassie?” I asked, focusing on her face.

  She shook her head.

  “No.”

  “She’s alive,” Elisa whispered. “They said she’s still alive.”

  I nodded, hopeful. Kendal never left a victim alive before. I wondered why now?

  As they slid me into the ambulance I caught sight of a bright glow to one side. I put my hand on the paramedic sliding me in and he stopped, glancing down at me curiously.

  “Wait a minute,” I whispered, trying to see the source of the light. I pointed at the light and it moved closer. I concentrated through the pain as I pushed the intensity of the aura down. A gentle hand took hold of mine and the face moved closer. My eyes opened wide and I saw Gabe, concern heavy in his features. He smiled down at me, holding my hand.

  “It’s okay, Britt,” he whispered, leaning close. “I’m here to protect you now.”

  I stared at him in shock as he released my hand and the men slid me into the ambulance. As the doors swung shut I felt a surge of panic race through me
. If Gabe came to protect me, did he know what I was?

  The ambulance ride brought back memories of a life I thought I’d left behind. They rushed me into a curtained area and began cutting my tattered clothing from me. They hooked me up to monitors and my heart beat sounded strong and steady. Not dying today, I thought with a grimace.

  Once they verified my stability they left me to concentrate on the person in the area next to me. The curtain pulled closed didn’t allow me a view of the patient, but I knew it was Cassie. I closed my eyes, listening to the heart monitor over the buzz of activity around her.

  Her heartbeat, steady, but weak, never skipped a beat or changed its pace.

  The curtain around me flew open and Mom stood, tears running down her cheeks, staring at me in horror. She took two quick steps to my bedside and placed a hand on my arm.

  “Britt, what happened?” She asked and then her eyes narrowed and she looked me up and down.

  “What?” the rapid change in her expression making me curious.

  “You don’t look … hurt.” She stared, her eyes filled with surprise.

  “Huh?” I pushed myself up to lean on my elbows. My clothes, cut away to expose my injuries, showed me nothing. A little dried blood here and there, but I didn’t have any injuries at all.

  “How can this be?” Mom stepped back.

  “Mom, Mom,” I said drawing her eyes to mine. “I’m fine. I can’t explain right now, but please, don’t freak.”

  “Britt, they told me you were seriously injured, maybe paralyzed.”

  “Please, just trust me. I need to check on Cassie, okay?” I pushed my legs over the edge of the bed as I sat up, testing my balance.

  “I, I, don’t know what to think.” She looked at my legs and then back at me, unable to argue with the evidence of my well-being she could see with her own eyes.