“I’m still scared, Liam,” I whisper, still descending.
“I know. I am, too, sis,” he whispers back, putting the lock on the door. I look down, noticing that I am finally near the bottom. It’s dark below but I can see a glimpse of light shining from somewhere. It also feels warmer down below, like a heater is running from somewhere. I look up at Liam who is watching me carefully, making sure that he doesn’t step on my fingers. I prepare my mouth to speak but as I do, a cold hand wraps around my ankle and a scream fills my lungs.
“Shh, Zandy! Shut the hell up!” Liam hisses at me.
I gasp, kicking the hand off of me and refusing to take another step down. I begin to climb back up but the silky texture of his voice stops me as he calls my name. He sounds weaker, more vulnerable. I glance down and spot Jules but he isn’t the Jules that I’m used to. He looks paler, sick. I gasp heavily, skipping the last few steps of the ladder by jumping down to meet the ground. I cling onto him but the coldness of his body catches me off guard.
“Alexandria,” he whispers in my hair. I can hear the smile in his voice. “You’re wet.” He pulls away to observe me but I think it should be the other way around. He looks terrible. His lips are chapped, his curly hair is wilder than ever before. His eyes are still a deep, smooth brown but they look sunken in and below them are dark purple bruises—as if he hasn’t slept in days. His cheeks are hollow and as I reach to grab his hand, the coldness of his melts with mine. We’re both freezing and I have a good explanation as to why I am, but I don’t know what his is.
“Jules, what happened to you?” I whisper as Liam lands on the ground behind us.
“You were out of conscious for too long,” he sighs, his voice raspy. “When we can’t feel our mates for longer than ten hours, we grow weaker. But I’m alright, really. The panicking and worrying probably makes me look a lot worse than how I really feel.”
“Are you sure?” I ask, my eyes still wide with shock.
“Positive. I’m just glad that you’re okay.” He kisses my forehead and somehow his lips are actually warmer than the rest of his body. Or maybe it is just in my head. I don’t know, but right now my mind is swimming with questions. I want to ask him about everything but first we have to take care of priorities.
I glance around, studying the shelves that are filled with bags of Doritos, Fritos, and potato chips. There is a case of bottled water on the bottom shelf and a bundle of dark clothes and blankets piled in the corner. The gust of heat is coming from a portable heater sitting in the corner that only needs batteries to work and a flashlight is sitting upright in the corner. “How long have you known about this place?” I ask, turning to look at Liam.
Liam shrugs. “I’ve just found out. I guess Jules knew this day was coming.”
I turn to face Jules. “How did you know?”
He presses his lips with a shrug as well. He’s gaining his strength back because his cheeks aren’t as drained. “I wasn’t supposed to do it, but I went to speak with one of the eldest Guardian Angels a few years back after your memory loss incident. I asked her if anything else would happen to you—to us—and she told me that I should dig a hole near this exact location and fill it with food. She said we were going to be here for a few days and that it would be me, the love of my life, and her closest family member. I figured it was Liam being the closest.” Liam slouches down in the corner and places his head between his legs. “She said there could have been a possibility of it not happening, but that she didn’t know how to stop it. I tried to figure everything out but it was too hard and too confusing. And it’s not that I gave up—I was just waiting for this time to come so I could go from here.”
“Oh,” I mumble. “Why do we have to stay down here, though? Why can’t we just run away when the coast is clear?”
“The coast is never clear here, Alexandria. The Hellions patrol this place like they have nothing else to live for. And the only reason that they haven’t found us yet is because I’ve protected this place—made it seem like there was nothing around. I made it as soon as the elder Guardian told me what to do. She gave me powders and told me to chant a certain prayer. The Hellion’s can’t see it. Only Angels can.”
“So, give me an estimate,” Liam says, butting in.
“An estimate of what?” Jules raises an eyebrow.
“On how long we’ll be here.”
“Just for a few more days—until I can devise a plan that will most likely work.”
“Oh, great,” Liam groans.
“Don’t doubt me, Liam. I am a lot wiser and stronger than you think.”
“I know, I know.”
“How do you know?” I ask curiously, staring at my brother.
He sighs. “Jules and I have been trapped together for three days. We’ve talked about a lot since we’ve been forced to be with each other. The food is stale but, hey.” Liam shrugs.
Jules’ lips hint at a smile.
I nod, wanting to smile but I can’t. I’m too cold. I sigh as I head for the pile of clothes and blankets in the corner. I reach for one of Jules’ black sweaters and a pair of loose grey sweat pants. Liam stands and heads for the shelves to grab a bag of Doritos (and to most likely pretend that he doesn’t know that I’m about to change clothes) but Jules continues to stare at me with a confused mask on his face.
“You smell . . . different,” he says, stepping in closer.
“What do you mean?” I grip the dry clothes in my hands.
“Go ahead, change. I need to smell your clothes.”
“Jules—I don’t think I’m comfortable with changing in front of you just yet.”
“It’s not like you haven’t changed in front of me before,” Jules replies casually with a hint of a smile in his smoldering brown eyes.
“Hey!” Liam shouts disapprovingly with a red bag of Doritos in hand, his back still facing me. Jules has seen me naked before? But when? I don’t think I’d ever feel perfect enough for him to look at me without any clothes on.
“Jules, please,” I whisper. He sighs then turns his back on me. I quickly slide out of my drenched blouse and jeans to the comforting sweat pants and sweater. They feel so warm, so cozy but I am still freezing beneath them. I could go to sleep like this—well if I had a blow dryer. Good thing my hair is short. It’ll dry faster. The smell of the clothes is relaxing. The sweater smells just like Jules. “All finished,” I call. They both turn around quickly. Liam reclaims his spot on the ground, munching on a bag of stale Doritos. I’m not sure how he can eat during a time like this. My stomach wouldn’t even be able to process the food. I would most likely spit it all back up.
Jules doesn’t hesitate on reaching for my wet clothes. He sniffs them once and his face twists. He sniffs them again and this time I can spot a sign of recognition in his eyes, as if he’s familiar with the scent now. “Oh, no,” he mutters, staring at the clothes.
Liam and I both whip our heads up to eye him. “What?” I ask, my heartbeat building up again.
“The smell,” he tosses the clothes on the ground. “Liam, let me borrow a lighter.” Liam drops his bag of chips to dig in his front pocket. He pulls out a green lighter and tosses it to Jules without hesitating. Jules marches to the shelf to grab a container of gas and then makes his way towards the clothes again. He pours a small amount of gas on the clothes before tossing the lighter on top of them. The fire sparks and spreads rapidly but I twinge as another cute outfit of mine burns to ashes. Jules eyes me sorrowfully. “Sorry about that.”
“Why’d you have to burn them?” I ask.
“The smell—remember how I was telling you about that unfamiliar scent that is hard to read but easy to figure out for me now?” he asks, stepping closer to me. “It’s like a mix of good and evil?”
“Yeah . . .”
“Well it is on you, Alexandria. Who were you with?” he asks. “Who had you?”
“Braxton had me.” Jules face falls into an angry slant. “All of this was planned by Braxton.”
“Braxton?” He stares at me, almost as if I’m lying. “It can’t be him! That just seems impossible.” He continues to shake his head, still disbelieving.
“But it is! I thought the same thing but it’s him, Jules. He’s completely lost his mind. His father is still alive and all of this time I thought it was Felix but Braxton has been framing Felix the entire time.”
He continues to shake his head, his eyes wide with a hint of disbelief still in his eyes. “I should have known,” Jules mutters. “It’s always the one that we would never suspect.” He glances at me as he holds his hand out. “Come here. You look exhausted, Alexandria.” I grab his hand but I am far from exhausted. I will admit that my brain is rattling but besides that, I am wide awake. I’ve been unconscious for three days. I think I’ve had way more than enough sleep.
“Jules—”
A loud boom from above us cuts my sentence off completely. We all gasp as we look up, and I swear my heart has just stopped beating. The booming gets closer and closer, almost like it knows exactly what it is looking for. There is one more loud thud but then everything grows silent.
“Stay back,” Jules whispers then pushes me beside Liam. I plop down next to Liam whose eyes are as wide as discs. I know he has to be more frightened by this than I am. His hands begin to tremble around his bag of Doritos and his green eyes become glossier but he doesn’t look away from where the sound of the booming came from. Jules marches for the ladder and begins to climb but as he does, another loud bang quakes the ground and all around us. This time it sounds like it is right above us and just as Jules is about to hop down, the double doors creak open and his body is pulled up swiftly.
“Holy shit!” Liam gasps frantically, reaching for my arm and scurrying back with me to the furthest wall.
“Liam—we have to help!” What in the hell just happened? I want to call for Jules but it sounds dangerous out there. There’s grunting and yelling and as I glance up, a bright red light shines all over. Liam and I cover our eyes to block it but my heart is failing to beat because the red light only means that a Hellion is around.
Jules roars and another loud boom throttles the earth. I hear bodies colliding, fists pounding but I’m not sure of who is winning. But suddenly, everything silences. The red light fades and it is quieter than ever before. The silence rings in my ears as the blood rushes behind them. I don’t want to believe that Jules has lost. I don’t want to believe that something bad has happened to him. I refuse to believe it. I need him too much.
A large black shoe steps down and Liam slides back, almost suffocating me as he wraps his arms around me. He’s trembling but I know that he’s trying to stay strong—trying to protect me. But Liam is no match for a Hellion or an Angel. He is only human and I hate that I’ve dragged him into this. The muddy shoe steps down quickly, making the steps of the built-in ladder squeak. The person grunts a deep grunt and I gasp as I squeeze my eyes shut, afraid of seeing my last moment of life. It has to be a Hellion. Their feet are the size of a boat.
But as I spot the mud on the bottom of the ripped suit pants, my heart beats back to life with relief. As he continues to step down, I spot his disheveled hair. It’s something that I’ve never seen on him before but something that doesn’t look bad at all. He drops down and eyes us quickly. His eyes are sparked in their familiar icy color. He brushes himself off but his eyes don’t drift from mine. His face is solid, like cement. His jaw tightens as he looks from me to Liam who is even more confused now than he was just a few seconds ago. But at least he isn’t shaking to the core anymore.
I stare at him, confused on how he’s here or how he’s still alive. I could have sworn that Braxton finished him, especially since he had me in that room. But he doesn’t have a scar on him. It’s like he’s been running and hiding for days. He has on the same suit from three days ago but it is trashed. There are blood stains all over it and it’s ripped at the cuffs of his arm and at the shoulders. The pants of his suit are crusted with dry and wet mud and his shoes are no longer polished but scuffed and crusted with even more mud than his pants.
He eyes us for a moment and just by the relieved glare in his eyes, I know that he’s at a loss for word. It’s as if he wasn’t expecting to see me down here. Did he think I was dead and gone, just like I’d thought of him? Is he really that surprised to see me?
“Alexandria,” Felix finally says in a breathless murmur.
DEATH PLAN
“Felix!” I shriek and immediately pull away from Liam. I run into Felix’s arms and he clutches me with a heavy, satisfying grunt.
“Alexandria, I thought you were as good as dead by now! I thought they had you,” he says, still out of breath. He pushes me back but his hands are still locked around my upper arms. His confused eyes glare into mine but besides confusion I spot guilt. “I’m so sorry,” he says, his eyes hard and now unreadable.
“Sorry?” I pause. “I should be the one sorry. I blamed you. “How did you get away?”
“I think the question is how did he get away? He’s gotten smarter. We were fighting but then he just ran away, faster than I’ve ever seen anyone run before—even an Angel. He told me that he had more important things to do and that he would finish me later. I knew he was coming here. Our father used to drag us to this castle every day.”
“Why didn’t you say anything about this?”
He shakes his head as he tries to control his breathing. He drops his hands and takes a step back. “Later—we will talk about this later, I promise.” He turns to look up the ladder. “Jules, are we good?”
“Yeah!” Jules grunts and hearing his voice causes my heart to pound blissfully. I’m so glad he isn’t demolished.
“What happened up there?” I ask quickly, scurrying around Felix to look up at the wide open doors.
“They saw me running, we started fighting,” Felix says, scraping at a dry flake of mud on the arm of his suit. “I could feel you and I could also feel human energy—or Liam.” He looks over his shoulder at my brother. Liam finally stands to his feet after he realizes that we are safe.
“Are we good, now?” Liam asks, his back still pressed against the far corner.
“Yeah, but only for now. It won’t last past another hour. Word will get out that three of their finest Hellions haven’t returned. We have to make some moves.”
“But I thought it was too dangerous to leave now,” I say with wide eyes.
“It is, but I’d much rather go to them than have them come to us. We don’t have any reason to keep our guards down.” Felix eyes darken. I nod slowly but then we both glance up as Jules plants a foot on the first wooden step.
“Make room,” Jules calls.
We both step out of the way and instead of climbing down, Jules jumps down and lands gracefully. Despite the cut on his lip and his bloody knuckles, he seems even better now than he was just a few minutes ago. It’s like he’s gained the color back in his face and all of his strength has been restored. He’s still pale but it’s not a sickly pale. He’s himself again. Wow, that was fast.
“Why did you lead them to us?” Jules snaps.
“I thought Alexandria was in trouble. I could only feel her and her brother. I didn’t know that you were around. I couldn’t feel you out there.”
“That’s how I want it to be,” Jules grumbles.
“Look, right now is not the time for a head-to-head. My brother needs to be stopped. He’s gotten out of hand with this.”
“The fact that you were once a part of this whole ordeal makes me a bit doubtful and confused about whether you’re actually trying to help us or if you’re just setting us up.” Jules narrows his eyes as he steps to my side.
Felix sighs. “Jules, I really don’t have time for this charade. You know I’m not a part of it anymore. I can guarantee you that I have nothing to do with what is going on up there. I have nothing to do with this side of Braxton. I could have sworn he bailed out of this crazy-ass plan years ago!” He pinches the
bridge of his nose. “Look, I’ve thought of something that I believe will work while I was hiding and watching out. It will require a lot of running and maybe a lot of fighting but it will be worth the escape.”
“Alright,” Jules folds his arms. “I’m always down for a good brawl. Let’s hear it.”
Felix looks from Jules, to me, and then to Liam. Liam makes his way towards us with wide eyes. He’s most likely still bothered about what has just happened and I’m sure he’s even more bothered now because Jules and Felix are acting like a fight didn’t just break out from above within the past two minutes.
“Okay, from what I could send and hear, Braxton doesn’t come this far out, but if he does, he may pick up on Alexandria’s aura. He’s gotten familiar with the way she feels,” Felix starts, eyeing me with hard eyes. He slightly turns his head to look at Jules. “It’s a good thing that you’ve set this place up to where Hellions can’t see it but the problem with that is the fact that they can still feel her. Alexandria’s aura is strong as hell. They can feel her in the area but to them, it’s like an orb of energy that they can’t get a hold of. It’s intangible but the power is all around them and if they get smart enough, they may tell Braxton and he’ll have no choice but to come here himself. You are forgetting that Braxton is a Guardian. He can see the doors just as clearly as we can. He isn’t completely evil.”
I frown. He might as well be evil. He’s far from an Angel in my book.
Jules tilts his head with narrowed eyes. “So what do you suggest?”
“We have no choice but to go out. We fight like we have nothing else to live for. We could just run away but you can’t carry the both of them and you’ll most likely get caught trying to do that. I refuse to leave without stopping this madness. We have no choice but to go through there.” Felix’s face turns grim while we all stare at him with stitched eyebrows.
OBTAINED (Book One) Page 24