Fallen Rebel

by C. G. Blaine

Hannah looks down, and fuck if I’m not ready for the rush of powers brought on by her scream. I yank the lid over and reseal what turns out to be the wrong coffin. The second I turn, she throws herself into my arms and clings to me. Her hands fist in the back of my shirt, her face burrowing into my chest.

  “Calm down,” I say, holding on to her. “It’s just bones.” The power boost starts to dip, so I pry her off. “I need to check the next one.”

  She reclaims her hold on my arm as I walk to the other side. Mother Mary Constance sounds familiar in a she’ll-keep my-shit-safe kind of way. Hannah doesn’t need me to tell her to look away. Her eyes shut, her breathing shallow. The lid slides easily. Even in the poor lighting, I can see the chain of a long-forgotten amulet draped over the wrist bone of Mary Constance. I stop and pull out my phone. The rest of the stone coffin illuminates, and I’ve found my hiding spot.

  A pulse of heat hits me. Hannah gets brave, opening her eyes. Staring down at the remains, she tightens her grip on me, but we do without the screaming this time. I carefully reach in, bypassing the black obsidian amulet and move a chalice, so I can get to the wand. Dark knots stand out against the white wood along with the designs etched into the surface. My fingers run over it, checking for any signs of damage, but I chose a good guardian.

  I hand it to Hannah and double-check to see if anything else will be useful.

  “What is it?” she asks.

  “It’s made of holly wood. Man thinks it has a connection to some goddess of the underworld, but that’s bullshit. Really, it was the original tree of creation. It served as protection for the earliest forms of life. Which happens to be exactly what you need. Protection.”

  The amulet might be a useful object to bind the spell. I start to unwind the chain but stop. I have something better at my apartment I can use, so I decide to leave it with Mary Constance for safekeeping.

  “Rest easy, sweetheart.” I scrape the lid over, sealing her back in.

  It’s clouded over by the time I slide the metal bolt back in place. Hannah pulls her hands into the sleeves of the jacket and holds on to my arm, walking back to the bike. I check the time, and—surprise, surprise—Samy’s late. I set Hannah on the bike seat sideways and stand in front of her while we wait. She pushes the bottom of my shirt up with the end of the wand, dragging the tip across my stomach.

  “Casting a spell?” I ask.

  She bites her lip. “Can you feel it?”

  Her eyes lift, and I feel something, but it’s not a fucking spell.

  I pull my vibrating phone out of my pocket and answer with, “Let me guess. You’re not coming.”

  “Something came up.” Samy’s voice sounds muffled.

  Hannah’s distracting me with her wand-play, so I walk back toward the crypt. “Anything serious?”

  “No. Nothing like that. What if I take you out for a drink next week?”

  “After blowing me off, you’d better make it a whole damn bottle if you want me to show.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” he says. “Hey, I meant to ask the other day about your charge. She still a complete pain in the ass?”

  “No, man. She’s…” I stop, turning back around.

  Hannah’s lying on the seat, back against the gas tank, staring at the clouds above. Her dark red hair hangs over the side, her fingers running over the white wood of the wand.

  “Let’s just say you have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “I’ll text you the when and where.”

  Hannah turns her head as I approach and sits up. “So, what’s the—”

  My lips capture hers, my hand cupping her face. So that we don’t get carried away and make another visit to MC in the mausoleum, I pull back sooner than I want.

  She stares at me, her eyes sparkling. “What was that for?”

  I half-smile and shrug. “It’s that fucking spell.”

  Her nose wrinkles, and she laughs, and I feel it. Hannah Kelley and her sexy-ass light-bringing magic.

  A week after the cemetery, Cass plans to meet Samy again at a bar near campus. He drops me off at my afternoon linguistics class before he goes, and as I pull the helmet off, he dangles my alligator keychain from his finger.

  “Hey,” I say. “I’ve been looking for that.”

  “I know. I stole it.” He tucks it in my bag and tugs me over to him, expression hard. “Stay in the lecture hall until I come back.”

  I blow out a breath. It’s been weeks since I’ve gone anywhere without him other than my room and his apartment. We’re ready for some space, both feeling a little suffocated.

  “We’re almost there, baby.” His arm snakes around to my lower back. “I just need to find a way to make my powers exempt from the spell. Then we can stop pretending we aren’t driving each other fucking crazy.” He kisses me. “We’re going to fight over all those stupid candles you have around the apartment.” Another kiss. “And all the hair crap in my bathroom.” One more with tongue. “Then I’m going to kick you out until you beg to come back.”

  I smile, backing away. “Can’t wait.”

  He waits to drive off until I turn around at the door. A minute ago, I desperately wanted a second alone, but I immediately feel on edge without him here. I distract myself with my phone on the way down the hall, not paying attention when I walk into the lecture hall. As I descend the steps, someone runs into me.

  “Shit,” he says, also looking up from his phone. “Sorry. Are you okay?”

  It’s as much my fault as his, but I nod. We both glance down at his hand on my arm.

  He snatches it back and steps aside. “Sorry. Again.”

  “It’s fine, really.” I pass him and go down a few more rows, finding an empty aisle seat.

  The professor walks in shortly after. I partially listen while Cass texts me updates of his solo mission. He’s in a good mood—for him anyway. The closer he comes to figuring out this spell, the more he seems to relax.

  I get another message while I jot down notes about our research assignment due in two weeks. It’s our final, a ten-page paper counting for a third of our grade that Dr. Stine could have given us a little longer to work on. A second and third text have come through by the time I check my phone.

  Might be a few minutes late.

  Stay there.

  I mean it.

  Because he usually jokes around about these things.

  Everyone else files out while I wait. The room empties, except for the professor and the guy from earlier. He slows down on his way up the stairs, a hand running through his dark blond hair, and comes to a full stop in the aisle a few rows down.

  “Lose the will to go on after hearing the requirements for that paper?” he asks.

  I shake my head. “No, I’m waiting for someone.”

  He looks down at the middle-aged man with pit stains and a receding hairline at the front of the otherwise empty room, then he quirks a brow. “Hot date?”

  “Ew,” I say, mildly offended by his accusation. “No. He’s not here yet.”

  He lifts his hands in mock surrender. “All right, calm down. You wouldn’t be the first girl to go after a guy twice her age.” He looks back at the professor again. “Or more.”

  I laugh, not quite sure what to make of this guy. He has one of those faces, familiar and immediately puts you at ease. Kind eyes, pouty lips.

  “I’m doing this backward,” he says. “I should tell the pretty girl my name’s Sean before insulting her. Then maybe she’d tell me her name is…”

  “Hannah.”

  “Hannah.” He repeats my name like he’s said it a million times. “And you’re waiting for…”

  “My boyfriend.”

  He gives a tight-lipped smile, nodding. “Let me guess. Tough guy. Rides a motorcycle. Would kick my ass without a second thought for hitting on you?”

  “It’s like you’ve met him.”

  “Nah. I saw him drop you off earlier.” He climbs another st
ep. “Tell me the truth. Can I take him?”

  I laugh again, shaking my head. Despite the muscular build, Cass would destroy him with or without his powers.

  “Well, good thing I never hit on you then.” He winks, continuing past me. “See ya around, Hannah.”

  I glance back as he walks out. When I face forward, Dr. Stine’s no longer at the front of the room. He must have gone out the other door. Being completely alone with only the keychain sends a chill through me. Hell, I don’t even know how it works. If it works.

  Where are you? I send to Cass.

  The seconds drag out, my anxiety rising with each passing one until I can’t stand it anymore. I snatch my bag and hurry up the stairs, forcing myself to look straight ahead. Almost at the top, a hand grabs my arm from behind. I gasp, spinning around.

  Cass cocks his head at me. “Going somewhere?”

  I clutch my chest. “Jesus, you scared me.”

  “I scared you?” He holds out his glowing palm and faces it toward the ceiling.

  “Sorry. I worried the keychain wouldn’t work if a demon attacked.”

  His hand flips over and settles on my arm. The light grows brighter and brighter until I have to look away. Other than his hot skin, I can’t feel anything. No sparks. No tingling. Nothing.

  He lets go and waits for me to look at him. “I wouldn’t leave you unless I knew you were safe. You know that, right?”

  I nod, embarrassed for not trusting him. It may be my life on the line, but in the grand scheme of things, Cass has more to lose. “So, how was Samy?”

  Cass follows me up the steps. “No idea. He bailed.”

  I pause at the door. “Then why were you late?”

  His shoulder shrugs. “I wanted to finish my drink with Carl before dealing with you again.”

  As he pushes past me, I get a grin, his arm hooking around my waist. He holds me tight against his side on our way down the hall, and I relax more than I have since he left me an hour ago. Even after he finds a permanent solution, this is the protection I’ll always want. Him.

  Terra and Jesse twisted my arm into staying at the house they’re renting for the summer. Knowing her, she’ll want to go shopping for all the knickknacks and junk we won’t need ahead of moving in, which will eat up plenty of my time in the coming weeks. Between that, packing the dorm room, and studying for my other finals, I want to knock out this paper as fast as possible. So, Cass comes with me to the library, so I can get a start on it.

  He settles in at the table next to me with another one of his books that historians would die to get their hands on. I dive into a stack of resources I’ve collected. A few hours later, I check my pile, not finding what I need. I stand up, and his hand runs up the back of my leg.

  “And where the hell do you think you’re going?” Cass asks, not looking away from his page.

  “I thought I’d grabbed the book on dead languages, but it’s not here.”

  His hand leaves my leg and picks the keychain off the table. “Don’t die.” He glances up, a dimple appearing.

  God, I’ll never not go a little weak from that. I take it and head up the stairs and to the back of the library. The shelves tower high over my head, most of the books back here infrequently used. Once I turn down the aisle, I quickly find the one I need, set on top of the others on the shelf. I must have put it down and forgotten to pick it up again.

  I’m flipping through the pages, head down, and I collide with someone rounding the corner.

  “Shit,” he says.

  And it’s déjà vu, only the hand on my arm moves away faster this time.

  Sean’s eyebrows shoot up. “You realize running into each other is just an expression, right?”

  I laugh and shrug. “I’m a literal type of person.”

  He tilts his head to the side, reading the spine of the book I’m holding. “Let me guess. You’re getting a head start on Stine’s paper too?”

  “It’s that or not sleep for three days, trying to finish on time.”

  A smile forms, his deep blue eyes softening even more. “And here I thought acting like an overachiever would save me from fighting over research materials.”

  He must be after the same book.

  “I only need to look up a few things,” I say. “Want me to find you when I’m finished with it?”

  “Nah. I’ll come back for it tomorrow. I have a few others I managed to beat you to.” He steps aside and gestures for me to walk by. “Whenever I walk around a corner from now on, I’ll call out. Just in case you’re anywhere near me.”

  I smile on my way past him. “I’ll be listening for the warning then.”

  A few rows from the stairs, an arm darts out at me. Cass pulls me into a dark corner and pins me between him and a bookcase. “You took too long.”

  “There are other people up here.” My objection sounds less than convincing with his tongue trailing across my skin.

  He grips my ass and grinds our lower bodies together. “I don’t care.”

  “I do.” I sound more in control than I feel, but it must be enough because he groans and slows his movements.

  “How much longer until we can go home?”

  My belly flips at the way he says home. “Thirty minutes?”

  He straightens, studying my face like I might change my mind. “Twenty, or I’m screwing you in the restroom.”

  Not doubting him, I hurry back to the table. His hand creeps higher and higher on my thigh the entire time even though his eyes are on his book. By the time he reaches the top, I can’t concentrate and finish a few minutes early. He practically carries me out the door.

  We haven’t made it far across the poorly lit parking lot when Cass yanks me toward him. I assume it’s him not being patient enough to wait until we get back to his apartment, but his eyes sweep over the lot. His shoulders tense, and then the air shifts. An electricity surrounds us.

  I look down at Cass’s glowing palm, sparks crackling.

  Demon.

  The figure steps out of a shadow by a truck, slowly stalking toward us. My heart takes off as I watch the blackness from my nightmares spiral around him and disappear into his hands.

  Bringing me around to his side, Cass keeps most of his body between the man and me. I look the other way, and my grip on his shirt tightens.

  “Cass,” I say, as another slinks out from behind a lamppost.

  Cass glances over and moves me behind him, backing us closer to the building.

  “Hannah.” His voice is rough, commanding. “The keychain.”

  A third demon appears. They all move toward us, sinister smiles unfolding.

  I shove a hand into my purse, digging around for the alligator keychain keeping Cass’s powers from working on me. As my fingers graze over it, he jerks me to the side. A fireball narrowly misses him, hissing on its way past us. The key ring slips through my fingers. I fumble for it, losing it in the bottom of my bag.

  Fuck it.

  I throw the purse on the ground. Cass spins around, turning his back on the three fireballs flying toward us. He wraps his arms around me, but they’re so close.

  Heat thrashes around me, white light, and I’m not in the parking lot.

  Cass isn’t holding on to me anymore. The room I’m in is large and empty with plastic sheeting hanging down and broken windows along one wall. Before I figure out where he left me, searing pain rips up my arm. Burn marks streak across my right forearm, four of them less than an inch apart. The sting intensifies, almost as if whatever burned me is still being held against my skin.

  The pain keeps coming. I fall to my knees and cradle the injured arm with the other. Blackness begins rising out of the wound—only this time, it’s real, and I can’t wake up to make it go away.

  “Fuck.” Cass says this from behind me but suddenly appears in front of me. His clothes are torn, more of his skin covered in burns than not, but he doesn’t seem to care. He lowers onto the fl
oor with me and grabs my arm. “Close your eyes, baby. I have no idea if this will work or not.”

  I do as told, only seeming to be able to breathe out and not in. The light becomes so bright through my eyelids that I lower my head to further shield my eyes. It has a sound, too, a hum that travels through my core. The burning lessens, a different type of heat replacing it, the familiar one of Cass’s hands and his skin on mine. Slowly, the light fades, and all I feel is him.

  Cass pulls me onto his lap and grasps the sides of my face, so I look at him. “Tell me you’re okay.”

  I don’t even check until after I’ve nodded. Only a slight redness appears on the flesh of my arm now, no sign of injury otherwise. But an aching sensation remains, like my mind hasn’t let go of the pain yet. Or maybe it’s the fear.

  I throw my arms around his neck, trembling and afraid to let him go again. There’s more heat and light, and then we’re in his room. On the bed. In the same position we were on the floor of wherever we were.

  “You’re okay,” Cass says, but I think it’s more for him than me.

  I remember his burns then. My hands frantically run down to the bottom of his singed shirt, and I yank it over his head. All the scorch marks are already gone—like they never existed. A relieved sob bursts out of me, and I press my palms against his fiery skin, his chest heaving beneath them. We stare at each other for a few ragged breaths, and then he’s on me. Hands, mouth, his body crashing us back on the bed. It’s frantic. Both of us tearing at our clothes, desperate to feel what only we provide for each other. His touch. My heartbeat.

  We’re far beyond taking what we want. This is about giving what the other needs. And above all else in Heaven or Hell or whatever else there is, I need Cass.

  Maybe even more than he needs me.

  The demons aren’t screwing around anymore. They shot for Hannah while I was with her and even fought me when I went back after dropping her at the warehouse. Nowhere is safe unless it’s been spelled. Which means it’s all I can do to stand outside Hannah’s class the next day, watching her through the crystal ball. My focus stays on her and every inch of air surrounding her and on not storming in and carrying her out and locking her in my apartment until I finish figuring out this fucking spell.