Taking Angels (The Angel Crusades)

by CS Yelle

  “Please, go home. I’m fine. I’ll explain later.” Like I even could, I thought.

  She nodded, still in a daze, and walked out without a word.

  I set my feet on the floor easing my weight off the bed to balance over them. I moved to the curtain and peered around the edge as a nurse took Cassie’s vitals. She spun and rushed through the curtain on the other side. I guessed Cassie’s mom and dad were on their way here so it was now or never.

  I stepped next to Cassie. Her face pale, her eyes staring straight ahead vacantly. I put a hand tentatively on her cheek, prepared for the sudden coldness her skin transferred to me. I hesitated, remembering Allister’s warning, and ignored it. I never thought I would have an opportunity to bring back one of Kendal’s victims besides Angelina, that I was destined to watch helplessly, useless as the killings continued.

  I felt the familiar energy surge inside me, rush to my arms and then into my hands. The force of it flowed stronger and more controlled than the first time I healed someone. Everything around me slowed, the beeping of the monitor, the pulsing of the ventilator, the dripping of the IV monitor doling out fluid and medicine into Cassie’s arm.

  My energy streamed through my arms and entered Cassie. My will to bring her back urged me on, telling me I could do this; I could save her. But the energy continued to flow, taking much longer than the others. My confidence wavered as my strength began to falter. Doubt tickled my mind, warning me to be aware. Too much energy passed to another might not leave enough for me.

  A movement caught my attention though I didn’t look away from Cassie. A figure stepped to the other side of Cassie and stood very still, watching.

  Ignoring the newcomer, I kept my focus on my objective, pushing every ounce of power into her to bring her back. Just when I thought it useless, my flow surged, increasing in the rate it entered Cassie. Without warning, the excess energy backlashed into me and sent me sprawling across the floor.

  I slid into the cabinets with a bang, shaking my head to clear the sparkling fireworks before my eyes.

  Gingerly, I got to my feet and looked over at Cassie, not feeling the least bit confident I’d

  accomplished my goal. I froze as my eyes touched on Gabe, the intruder, standing over Cassie. He looked up from her face, smiled at me, and then turned back to look at Cassie again. I followed his gaze to see Cassie grinning at me, her eyes bright and alive. Alive.

  I rushed over, taking her hand and holding it tightly between mine.

  “I thought we lost you for a minute.” I smiled, tears rolling down my cheeks.

  “I did too.” Her smile was tired. “Thanks to you two, I guess you’ll be putting up with me for a while longer.”

  I looked over at Gabe, his expression torn. “We need to talk.” He motioned to the hall with a lean of his head.

  “I’ll be right back.” I inched closer and whispered to Cassie.

  She nodded, letting go of my hand as I walked around the bed, following Gabe through the curtain.

  I opened my mouth to speak and Gabe put a finger to his lips, silencing me. I stopped, raising an eyebrow in question. He motioned to a room across from Cassie’s bed and we stepped inside as he closed the door behind us.

  Racks lined the walls with supplies and I realized we were standing in a storage room. I turned to him, crossing my arms in preparation for what he was going to say.

  “You shouldn’t have tried to heal her without more experience,” he frowned.

  What did he know about me healing people? I clenched my jaw tightly.

  “Did you hear me?” he whispered, an edge to his voice.

  “Yeah, I heard you.”

  “If I didn’t come in when I did, you might be lying in the bed next to her, both of you dead.”

  “Right.” I shook my head. “I’ve done this before.”

  “You shouldn’t have.” He glared.

  “What do you know about what I can and can’t do?”

  “Britt, listen, I know you’re a half angel and you want to help your friends when you can, but you don’t have enough power to heal someone who just got touched by a soulless.”

  “Half angel?”

  “Yes, half angel. Don’t you know what you are?”

  “I thought I did.”

  “Ha, yeah, right. I’ve seen plenty of you ‘h-a’s’.”

  “So how do you make an ‘h-a’?”

  “You don’t make an h-a, they’re born. We call them half angels because they’re part angel, and also part human.”

  “I was made,” I told him stubbornly, determined to shake the confidence from his expression.

  His eyes narrowed. “No.” He shook his head. “Not possible.”

  “I’m telling you it is.”

  “Who made you then?” He folded his arms across his chest.

  “An Eternal.”

  His eyes shot wide and his mouth dropped open. He tried to talk, his mouth moved but nothing came out.

  “It’s true.” I nodded.

  “How?”

  “First off, are you an angel?” I asked.

  “Yes, an Avenging Angel.” He nodded.

  “A what?” Panic raced through me as Allister’s warning about Avenging Angels surged into my mind and I kicked myself for my stupidity.

  “Avenging Angel. I show up when something, or in this case, someone is disrupting the natural flow of things. This Eternal going around taking Guardian Angels is messing up the natural balance and I’m here to put a stop to it.”

  “Oh.” I chose my next words carefully. “So you’re here to kill Kendal.”

  “Kendal, who’s Kendal?”

  “The Eternal who hurt Cassie.”

  “You know him?” Gabe gasped.

  “Unfortunately.” I shrugged.

  “Is he the Eternal who changed you?”

  “No, another Eternal did.” I looked away, trying not to give anything away.

  “There’s more than one Eternal in Grand Rapids?”

  “Not now, but at one time, there were …five.”

  “Five,” he shouted, then remembered where we were and whispered, “Where are they now?”

  “I’m not sure I should tell you. I don’t want you to hurt them.”

  “Why do you think I would hurt them?”

  “Don’t you kill all Eternals you find?”

  “Who told you that?” he laughed, his features softening.

  “Uh, one of them.”

  “I’m here to remove the Eternal doing the harm. If the others are functioning within the boundaries set by the council, I have no interest in them.” He looked at me, his expression unaccusing, and then it began to shift the longer he stared at me. “How did this Eternal ‘create’ you?”

  “Kendal took my guardian angel and the other Eternal tried to heal me. He did, but this is the result.” I shrugged, downplaying Allister’s infraction.

  “Can I place my hands on you?” he asked.

  “Didn’t ask before.” I frowned, not feeling playful.

  “That was just a massage. This is a little more intimate.”

  “Whoa, I’m not sure I like the sound of that.” I put my hands up defensively, backing away.

  “Nothing like that,” he blushed. “I need to touch you to see what you really are. Your aura says h-a, but if you speak the truth...”

  “I do,” I said evenly, knowing there was no way of hiding what I was.

  “This will show me.” He looked at me

  expectantly.

  “Fine,” I sighed, putting my hands to my side.

  He took a step closer, placing one hand on my forehead and the other to my heart. I jumped a little when he placed his hand on my chest, then stood as still as possible.

  He concentrated, eyes closed, lips pressed together, his breath blowing steady against my hair.

  I stared up at his face. Did I want to know if I was this new mix, or had I accepted that I was an Eternal?

  He gasped slightly and I studied hi
s face for a reaction, but his expression stayed the same. He exhaled heavily, pulling away, turning from me to lean against a shelf of sheets.

  “What?” I stepped closer, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  “I’ve never felt anything like it,” he whispered, not looking at me.

  “What, what is it? You can’t just study me and not tell me what you found.”

  “Nothing.”

  “Don’t keep the truth from me. I demand you tell me.”

  “Nothing,” he repeated.

  “I heard that, now tell me what I am.”

  He turned around, his normally glowing face, dull and pale. “Britt, you have no sign of either a guardian angel or a soul as separate entities like they should be. They’re combined somehow. It’s as if you have no soul or guardian angel, but a combined essence of both,” he said, looking into my eyes with sympathy.

  “I knew that.” I shrugged.

  “You did?”

  “Yeah, Alli…the other Eternals told me I didn’t have a soul, like them.”

  “But you still have some of the guardian angel’s essence in you too.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “It means you are part Eternal, soulless and destined to walk the earth forever and…”

  “And what?” I grabbed his arm.

  “You have a guardian angel within you.” “I can’t, can I?”

  “Not normally,” he agreed.

  “I’m not normal. No part of this is normal.”

  “Britt, you are definitely not normal. I sense the angel side in you, but when I look closer, you have the Eternal side as well. I have never encountered something like this before.”

  “Is it bad?”

  “I can’t say. I doubt the Eternal Council will approve and I’m not willing to say the Angel Senate will like it either.”

  “Angel Senate, you mean the leaders of the angels?”

  He nodded.

  “Does that mean I’m damned on both sides of the line?”

  “Kind of,” he laughed.

  “I’m glad you find this so amusing.” I glared.

  “I’m sorry.” He sobered. “But seeing you, I understand you pose no threat to our side. I advise you live your life…”

  “Which is forever, now,” I interrupted angrily.

  “Yes, live your everlasting life as quietly as possible. Don’t draw the attention of either side.”

  “You’re not going to tell?”

  “I see no need.” His soft expression begged confidence.

  “Thank you.” I wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him as tightly as I could.

  “You’re welcome.” He gasped at the exuberant squeeze.

  “Now, you say you know this Kendal who tried to kill your friend?” he said, pulling away from my embrace.

  “He kidnapped me once.”

  “He what? No, never mind. I don’t want to know.” He raised a hand to stop my response.

  “He’s in love with me. He attacked her to hurt me when he realized I could never love him back.”

  “You have the strangest acquaintances,” he sighed.

  “Tell me about it.”

  “I think we need to keep an eye on your other two girlfriends while you and I hunt him down. Do you have any idea where he is or where he might strike again?”

  “I thought you were the expert here?” I questioned.

  “I am, I mean, I can handle this, but I thought you might know his tendencies so I can pin point where he might be.”

  “I might be able to help with that,” I said, biting my lip.

  “And how would you do that?”

  “When I dream, I see through Kendal’s eyes.”

  “Oh no you don’t,” Gabe gasped in horror.

  “Yep, unfortunately true.” I shrugged, shaking my head.

  “We can use that to find him tonight and you’ll be rid of us all.”

  I nodded, agreeing with what he said in principle, but knowing I had many more issues to deal with than just Kendal. Bastion still lurked out there, somewhere, looking to bring me to Greece and condemn Allister to death. I don’t know how Gabe would react to that, so I pressed my lips together and went along with the plan to eliminate at least one of my tormentors. It was a start.

  Chapter 25 After checking to be sure Cassie continued to recover with her parents around her, we left to find the other girls. We didn’t need to go far. They sat worrying in the waiting area off the emergency room.

  As Gabe and I walked in, Trish and Elisa leapt to their feet and threw their arms around my neck.

  “Britt, you scared us to death,” Elisa cried.

  “Are you alright?” Trish said, pulling back to look at me, my tattered clothing draped over me, covering me the best they could. She looked questioningly over at Gabe.

  “Yeah, fine,” I sighed.

  “How’s Cassie?” Elisa asked.

  “She’s going to be okay.” I looked at Gabe as he pursed his lips. I didn’t let on that he had saved her. “We need to stay together tonight, hopefully keep Kendal from coming after either of you.”

  Elisa and Trish exchanged scared looks and then turned back to me and Gabe.

  “What’s your story?” Trish asked Gabe.

  “Just here to help.”

  She turned back to me with a curious look.

  “Gabe is a …friend. He can help,” I explained.

  “Fine, if you don’t want to fill us in, fine.” Trish gave a curt nod.

  “Where are we going to do this?” Elisa asked.

  “My house, I guess,” I said.

  “Let’s go.” Trish motioned with her hand.

  We walked out the emergency door past the ambulances and into the parking lot where the Jeep sat. I climbed in, noticing Kendal’s handprints on the hood. I’d forgotten how strong Eternals were. The memory of Allister attacking the black Mercedes in Canada came to me and I shuttered. Kendal could have easily killed me this morning.

  I looked up at the sun already beginning to drop low in the western sky. “How long have we been here?”

  “All day,” Elisa said.

  I turned, looking for Gabe as he climbed into an old Ford Focus, rusted and dented.

  “I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.” He closed the door. The car shook as the engine turned over and he chugged out of the parking lot accompanied by a cloud of blue smoke.

  “Kind of cozy with him, aren’t you?” Trish said.

  “Not like that, but if we want to stop Kendal, we need him,” I said, looking at her.

  “For what?” Elisa asked.

  “You better ask him.” I shrugged.

  Trish started the Jeep and we sped out of the lot towards the girls’ houses to collect their things and then make our way over to my house.

  Gabe sat parked behind Allister’s black Camaro. His car looked pretty lame next to the muscle car.

  He stepped out as we pulled up, grabbed some of the girl’s bags and carried them towards the house.

  “What about my parents?” I asked, having temporarily forgotten about them.

  “Taken care of,” Gabe smiled.

  “What did you do?” I gasped, assuming the worst.

  “Nothing bad,” he chuckled. “Your Dad has some issues at the plant. Something to do with machinery mysteriously not working.” He smiled, holding up a large bolt in his hand.

  “And Mom?”

  “Cousin Hazel happened to need a ride to bridge club tonight,” he grinned.

  “She lives in Keewatin,” I breathed in amazement.

  “I bet Mom will be spending the night then.”

  “You’re devious.” I laughed, suddenly feeling light.

  “Whatever it takes,” he said, shrugging.

  We hauled the bags into the house and up to my room. I pulled out some air mattresses and we inflated them, spreading them out on the floor. By the time the beds for Elisa and Trish had blankets and pillows piled on them the sun had dipped behind the trees.<
br />
  “So, what’s up with you?” Trish said to Gabe. She’d been stewing about it as we got things organized. I’d felt it.

  “I’m here to help,” he shrugged again.

  “But what are you?” she pressed, needing answers.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t play dumb.” Trish put her hands on her hips. “Are you an Eternal, an angel, what?”

  Gabe stared at me aghast. “Don’t you keep anything secret?”

  “I didn’t say a word, really.”

  “Hey, leave Britt out of this.” Trish stepped towards him defiantly. “We know about her, we know about Kendal, we know about Allister, Angelina and their parents…”

  As Trish started down that road, I rushed across the room towards her, my words trying to come out fast enough, but arriving too late to salvage the situation.

  “No, Trish stop,” I cried, falling over one of the air mattresses before I could reach her. I rolled over onto my back, resigned that the proverbial cat was out of the bag.

  “Allister, Angelina, the Parks?” Gabe looked down at me in shock.

  I nodded looking up at him, upside down, from the mattress.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Need to know; I didn’t think you needed.” I pursed my lip and raised my eyebrows.

  “Ah.” He threw his hands up and stormed from the room.

  “What’s his problem?” Trish asked as Elise stared in silence.

  “Gabe is an Avenging Angel sent here to eliminate Kendal for disrupting the natural balance of things.” I raced out the door after Gabe.

  I found him sitting on the deck out back. He stared up at the night’s sky, entranced in thought, as I slid into a chair next to him.

  “I’m sorry for keeping it from you,” I whispered.

  “A little late now.” He frowned down at me.

  “It should never be too late to admit I’m wrong.”

  “True, but did you have to blurt out those last facts to your girlfriends?”

  “You heard that?”

  “We hear very well.”

  “What’s the big deal about the Parks?”

  “They are something like royalty in the supernatural world,” he sighed.

  “Like king and queen type royalty?”

  “Yeah, like king and queen type royalty,” he mocked.

  “How am I supposed to know that? They never said anything about being royalty.”

  “Britt, Victor and Jennavia are the oldest Eternals in existence and have maintained excellent relations with our kind for millennia.”