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18 Truths

Page 26

by Jamie Ayres


  Help me, God, Jesus, Riel, Ash, Dr. Judy. Anybody, please help—

  My mouth opened. The glass tilted toward my lips. The demon smiled. In my mind, I saw Conner’s smiling face, sweet Conner. His face was what I wanted to take with me during my last moment of being myself, before I changed into some truth-telling robot. And for one brief exhilarating moment, I was rewarded with the memory of racing him down the sand dunes of Grand Haven State Park before jumping into the frothy waters of Lake Michigan.

  Then suddenly, the demon’s hand jerked. His beady eyes went wide. I turned my head when he dropped the cup, the sound of it clattering on the concrete. The demon slouched over my body before slipping to the floor.

  Carefully, since I still felt dizzy, I turned my head sideways.

  “Grace!” I squealed.

  She shushed me, and drew the tranquilizer gun from the front pocket of the demon’s apron, her chest heaving. I closed my eyes slowly, then opened them again in disbelief.

  “How’d you get out of the restraints?”

  “I have no idea.” She holstered the gun in the back of her pants as she walked over to my side and then loosened the restraints. “I was struggling against them with all my might, so afraid for you, and they just came loose.”

  “But—” I thought about her unique biological background. “Grace, your father was an archangel. You probably inherited some of his more powerful chromosomes.”

  She snorted, then squinted her eyes at me, a twinkle of mischief lighting her face with an inner glow. “Perfect. Let’s use my powers to get us the heck outta here.”

  She helped me sit, then I jumped off the table, wincing as another wave of dizziness washed over me. I was bone-weary. My neck ached where Nate had shot me, my arm was sore from the needle, and my ankles were in agony from the shackles.

  “Um, do you think extraordinary strength is part of your superpower abilities? Because you might need to carry me.” I only half-joked with her.

  “You can’t walk?”

  I shrugged.

  “Okay then, let’s try this.” She scooped me into her arms. “Grab the tranq gun from my back pocket. You’ll need to play the role of bouncer if we run into anyone out there.”

  She didn’t need to tell me twice. I snatched the gun as she raced to the door. Within seconds, we were down the first hallway. My body still felt sore, and I clenched my teeth to keep from crying out as her movements jostled me. Supersonic speed seemed to be another power she accessed quickly now that she knew about the angel blood running through her veins.

  “Doing okay?” She must’ve noticed my grimacing. “Aren’t you dead? I thought there was no more pain after death.”

  I nodded. “Nate used the tranq gun issued by our spirit guide headquarters, so they must be able to cause pain to us and other spiritual beings.”

  Her mouth fell open as she let out a gasp. “Makes sense, I guess. But… no, none of this really makes sense.”

  We’d come to the hallway with the row of cells. “Conner!” My voice quivered; half-afraid for the state we might find him in, and half-afraid we’d have to fight Nate to get to him.

  Grace slowed and I scanned the small rooms, blowing out a series of short breaths, trying to squelch my panic attack as cell after cell showed no sign of Conner. Equally odd was the lack of guards.

  I frowned. “Where did everyone go?”

  “They’re in the computer lab,” came a familiar voice from behind us.

  Grace swung us around.

  “They’re still trying to crack the encrypted Alpha File on their own,” Nate said. “Hopefully that’ll keep them busy until we’re long gone. Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the way out.”

  I trained the gun on him. “We’re not going anywhere with you. Hands in the air, traitor!”

  He threw his arms up. “Olga and Grace, I owe you a thousand apologies, but I’ll start with one. I’m so, so sorry. I had no choice but to act like I was on their side.”

  “Yeah, right. My kiss with Conner made you snap, and now you’re just trying to buy some time. You have until the count of zero to tell me where Conner is, or I swear to God I’ll shoot.”

  “You’re not supposed to swear to God,” Nate said, shuffling two steps toward us. “And do you honestly believe you have it in you to shoot me?”

  His taunt scorched my ears, fueling my anger “You showed me how, remember? Now, where was I? Oh yeah, the countdown. Three, two, one, zer—”

  “No, don’t! I moved his body outside.” Nate’s breaths were labored, heavy, as he waited for my response.

  My own breath caught in horror. His body? He’d already killed him, and now he had to bury him? An echo of rage bounced across the corridor, and I thought the sound might be an animal before I realized it came from my own lips. I’ll make him pay dearly for this.

  “Show me. Now.”

  Nate slowly shuffled in front of us and led the way. I trained the gun on his back the whole time, my finger feeling as trigger-happy as a gangster. We continued to follow him—Grace carrying me easily up the steps—but I felt like I was the one carrying her, as the weight of more guilt settled upon my chest.

  I glanced over my shoulder when we approached the exit, making sure we weren’t being pursued. “Grace, I’m sorry for involving you in this fight. I’ve made a ridiculous mess of things since I’ve been dead.”

  Grace chuckled. “Oh, come on, some of it was fun. Right, Grace?”

  I found it odd that her tone still held humor after all this. Was she being condescending? Her demeanor didn’t look patronizing, but that didn’t stop her statement from cutting me like a knife. I guess I deserved any hurtful words she wanted to throw my way though.

  Nate kicked the door open with a surprising intensity, a raw look on his face. Everything in me wanted to believe he was good, but if he had turned evil and I let my guard down for even a second, then I would ruin everything again.

  We stepped outside to a sterile moonscape, a waiting forest a few hundred feet in the distance, a glowing yellow lake about a mile wide at its entrance. The lake might’ve looked beautiful if it weren’t for the black clouds swirling above the surface, carrying the screams of death. I lifted my face to the sky, searching for light, but there was none. The whole area held the sickly stench of rotting animal carcasses. Grace’s shoes crunched over leaves as we followed Nate around the building. I wanted to ask him what was in the lake, but my mouth felt full of cotton. The wind wailed between us anyway, making hearing difficult while coating my skin with the dampness of terror.

  “Hurry up,” Grace ordered him, human pace apparently much too slow for her now.

  Nate held up a hand, checking around the corner, making a show of actually caring if the coast was clear. He motioned for us to come, stepping into a clearing and pointing ahead to a clump of trees in desperate need of some rain, their bare branches beating against each other in the violent wind.

  “He’s behind those bushes over there.”

  My gaze followed the direction of his index finger.

  “Put me down, Grace.” I half-closed my eyes, trying to ignore the dizziness making the whole forest in front of me spin when she released me.

  I moved past Nate, ignoring him, too, and ignoring the briars catching on my jeans. Hidden beneath a pile of dead leaves, I saw him. Conner. My breath caught at the sight of him. Time seemed to stop, stretching itself out as my feet remained frozen to the ground, my mind returning to the scene of the lightning strike.

  Once again, I was too late to save him.

  I turned, threw the gun to Grace, and hurriedly brushed the foliage off Conner’s body. Though my head throbbed, and parts of my body still felt numb, my injuries were nothing compared to Conner’s wounds. He wasn’t naked anymore, but only a thin pair of hospital scrub pants covered his lower half. His shirtless form revealed lots of dried blood—way too much blood—crusted to his side, his back, his abdomen, his arms. With closed eyes, his body lay motionless on the
cold, hard dirt.

  I choked on a sob.

  “Conner!” I whispered, hoping he was still alive. Could someone die twice?

  I turned to Nate, horror gripping my chest. “What have you done to him, you monster?” Hands still up in a defensive stance, he spoke in a placating voice. “Olga, I’m sorry. I—”

  “Shut up! Both of you!” Grace’s look of fury almost frightened me more than the sight of Conner’s bloody body. “You can sort out your sick little love triangle later. Right now, we need to focus on getting out of here. Olga, take the gun. I’ll get Conner.”

  In a flash, Grace moved to Conner’s side, sliding her arms beneath him. His clouded blue eyes fluttered open.

  “Conner! Thank God. Can you move at all?”

  He attempted to smile. “Of course; I have the moves like Jagger, baby.”

  I sighed; relieved his sense of humor wasn’t lost in all the beatings. “Okay, we’re gonna get out of here. We—”

  Branches crackled loudly behind us. The two demons from earlier rounded the corner, their angry steps shaking the ground beneath our feet.

  “Olga! Take Grace and get help!” Nate yelled. “I’ll guard Conner.” He pulled a small hand grenade from his pocket.

  For a split second, I wondered where he would’ve secured such a weapon. Did he find it in the spirit guide headquarters, or did the demons give to him? And why hadn’t he blown us all to bits if he had that in his pocket the whole time?

  I shook my head. “I’m not leaving Conner with y—”

  But there was no time to argue. Grace grabbed my hand and slid down the hill behind us. At the bottom, my knee grated against the rough bark of a tree, but the pain was distant compared to my mind playing the ‘what if’ game as I was laid flat on my back. What if the demons got a hold of Conner again? This whole thing about traipsing around the Underworld had been my idea, but now my brain filled with Nate’s words of warning. I pictured him in my mind with his arms crossed, giving me his sexy knowing smirk. Jerk.

  Crap. Maybe I should just surrender in exchange for Conner’s freedom. And I wouldn’t let Nate get away either. I’d find a way to exact my revenge on him.

  The sound of a deafening explosion pierced my ears, snatching me from my thoughts. Behind me, smoke rose toward the sky. Nate must’ve thrown the grenade, but did he and Conner survive the blast? I couldn’t stand this fight any longer.

  “Are you okay?” Grace yelled.

  I sat up slowly, my eardrums still ringing, but I was ready to give up and tell her to save herself, when I felt something protruding in my back pocket. Reaching into my jeans, my heart pounded faster when I realized I’d held onto the glue stick this whole time! I threw the cap off, ready to hit the toggle switch when I realized it was already down, signaling Angel 9-1-1.

  Two things I was certain of in that moment: one, I’d just brought butt dialing to a whole ‘nother level; and two, I was about to have my butt handed to me by one very powerful angel.

  “No man dies for what he knows to be true.

  Men die for what they want to be true,

  for what some terror in their hearts

  tells them is not true.”

  —Oscar Wilde

  race grabbed my hand again and we began sprinting, cutting through the woods, buying some time. I could hear at least one demon chasing after us. The knee-high briar patches snatched at my pants as I tore through the forest. Over my panting breath, I heard the demons whispering, “You’ll never escape. You’re mine. You’re mine.”

  Their shrill warnings were a hammer in my head, beating against my brain. I’d come so far on my journey, and now I was about to lose everything. The frigid air burned my lungs, but I kept running with Grace. We cleared a patch of distorted tree trunks, passed a mangy lone wolf, and raced around the side of a cave to find a path leading to the right.

  Grace bolted into the thick of trees toward the left instead. A demon jumped out at us, only a foot in front of my face. I darted around him, quickly moving to the left as he continued his hot pursuit. I could tell Grace ran as hard as she could while practically dragging my human butt along, everything around me a blur.

  My childhood dog used to suffer from unfortunate epileptic seizures. I shook more now than he ever did. I heard the demon behind me, and hid us behind a wide tree. Breathing heavily but silently, I searched for a way out, my mind racing. My gaze settled on a huge rock a couple feet in front of me, and I lifted it, throwing the heavy stone in another direction. The distraction worked, sending the demon sprinting the other way.

  The second demon strayed behind and stood directly in front of me—his back to us. Eyes wide, I tried to control my panic as I watched Grace quickly break off a branch and whip crack him on top of the head before slamming him to the ground. He fought back, but after a fourth punch to his face, he disappeared. What had I been thinking when I made a deal with these creatures? They were pure evil. Had I actually thought I was such a great spirit guide that I could trick them?

  Well, I labored under no such delusion now, that was for sure. And even though I was supposed to be the one helping Grace, I was thankful for her assistance.

  With loud snapping wings, Riel materialized in front of us. “Come with me!” His eyes glowed with urgency.

  “Grace, come on!”

  She hesitated, her lower lip trembling. “What about Nate?”

  I couldn’t believe she still cared for that little traitor. My concern was only for one person now. Nate had made that choice easy. “Conner’s out here, too.” Tears spilled over my cheeks, and I could feel them making tracks on my dirty face.

  Suddenly, another demon popped in front of us. I sucked in a breath and turned away from it, my gaze pleading with Riel to destroy the disgusting creature.

  “Now!” Riel barked.

  My mind tumbling, I grabbed hold of his hand while Grace took the other. We were back at headquarters in another blink. I looked at Nate sitting in the chair, eyes wide, his face racked with confusion.

  “You okay?” Grace asked him.

  Nate only gave a slight nod. His eyes drooped, looking like a wounded basset hound, his gaze flickering back to Grace and Riel.

  Ash flew into the room, his eyes wild.

  “Take Grace to her mother,” Riel ordered. “I’ll deal with these two.”

  Ash nodded, grabbed Grace, and off they went.

  Terror washed over me when I caught a glimpse of Riel. “Nate was responsible for this. He—”

  “Sit down, Olga.” Riel gestured toward the chair next to Nate, who dropped his gaze to the floor.

  I didn’t want to sit next to that piece of pond scum, but Riel’s eyes remained focused on mine with a look that said ‘do not disobey me.’

  “What I’m going to say will be hard, so listen carefully because I don’t want to repeat myself. You are going to have to accept there are many things you won’t understand and have little control over. The one thing you must understand is the Angel Council doesn’t trust you anymore—”

  “The Angel Council?” Nate said, a low urgency in his voice.

  Riel blinked at him, his eyes black. “Oh, honestly. Did you read your Spirit Guide handbook at all? There are Nine Choirs of Angels. The Angel Council is made up of special warriors against evil who are the staunch defenders of justice. And they will send Olga and you straight to Hell unless you do exactly as I say.”

  I pointed to Nate. “He should go to Hell. He’s working with the demons!”

  Fury flashed across Riel’s face. “Did I give you permission to open your mouth? I swear a dog has better obedience than you do.”

  A sudden coldness hit my core. Riel’s words knocked something loose in me and before I even realized I was crying, I tasted the salty tears.

  “You’ve put us into a complicated position. You haven’t just put yourself at risk—you’ve compromised our whole operation! As of tonight, you are no longer spirit guides. You will never again step inside headquarters. I�
��ve arranged for a Purgatory passport for you and Nate for the next forty-eight hours while you await your sentence concerning your crimes. You’ve read in your Spirit Guide Handbook, or should have at least, the verses from the sixth chapter of Proverbs: ‘There are six things the Lord hates, yes; seven are an abomination to Him. A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren.’ You’ve acted with no regard for veracity. You’ve made excuses for not doing the right thing. Told yourself lies for your abhorrent actions. You’ve deceived others, but not God. He sees all and will not be mocked. His council of seven angels will judge if you’ve broken the deadly sin they rule judgment over, and then will determine your sentence if you have. They convene tonight.”

  My heart thudded, a sick sensation rolling through my stomach. “What about Conner?”

  In a flash of fire, he hovered above me. “He. Is. Not. Your. Concern. It’s not your place to question God’s justice and use it to rationalize your unfaithful actions. What’s it to you where Conner is? Your job is to trust that God is in control.” Each distinct word was like thunder, shaking the ground beneath me, the lights flashing with volts of electricity.

  “You should be asking about Grace, or did you forget about your real assignment?” Ash returned, his rebuke filling every corner of the room.

  I’d never heard his voice sound so powerful. I wished his tone would shake some sense into me, but my thoughts still drifted toward Conner.

  What was he doing? Was he safe? In trouble? Mad at me? Worried? Brainwashed? I only hoped I could keep myself together long enough to find out.

  Ash snapped his fingers, and the door burst open. “Put them with the others.”

  Others? As in prisoners?

  Two guards half dragged, half carried Nate and me down the long corridors of headquarters, and then deposited us into an elevator. Nate’s guard pressed the down button. The elevator dinged a few seconds later when the door slid open, and the guards shoved both of us out into a carpeted area. The room looked to be a lobby of some sort. A desk sat in the middle of a series of doors, three on each side. Each door was made of marble and featured a hand carved stone sign in the middle.

 

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