by Keary Taylor
I peered at the screen but it didn’t mean anything to me. “You’re sure?”
Alex nodded. “I just booked us flights for tomorrow morning,” Alex said as he finally turned toward me. He placed a hand on either side of my waist and maneuvered me until I sat in his lap. “I thought we could head down to Seattle tonight, get a hotel so we don’t have to leave so early in the morning?”
The smile that spread on my face couldn’t be helped. “That sounds great,” I said as I pressed a kiss to his lips briefly.
“Good,” he said as he tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. “I booked a suite. I think you’re really going to like it.”
“We could be staying in a cardboard box and I wouldn’t care. Just so long as you’re there.” I would have felt embarrassed for sounding so cheesy if what I said wasn’t so true.
“Why don’t you go get packed and we’ll head out?”
“’K,” I said as I bit my lower lip to prevent my face from cracking from the smile that was spreading there.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
JESSICA
It was hard to explain to Amber why I had to leave. I knew the whole angel thing was already confusing and frightening to her so I didn’t know how to explain the whole mess with Cole. In the end we just left it simple. I needed to go help my friend before something bad happened to her.
After a quick introduction, Amber met Sal and I carefully explained to her that Amber would be helping her while I had to be gone for a while. I really, really hoped Sal could get along with Amber. It made me sick; it felt a little like leaving my own child behind in someone else’s care. I didn’t have any other choice though.
I went into work to tell Rita that I was going to be gone myself. She was in a hurry to leave so I only had a few moments to tell her that I wouldn’t be coming into work the next day and that I didn’t know when exactly I would be back. If my boss had been anyone but Rita I was sure I would have been fired right then and there. She only said for me to call her when I knew when I was going to be back. It was so easy to love a woman like her.
“Are you in trouble or something, Jessica?” Austin asked as I stepped out of Rita’s office.
“Were you listening?” I asked, my voice harsh.
“Where are you going?” he ignored the accusing tone in my voice, putting it in his own.
“It’s not really any of your business,” I said as I started toward the front door. “But if you have to know, I found Emily.”
“Is she alright?” he asked, following me.
“Not really. She’s in a lot of trouble,” I said with a sigh as I paused at the door, seeing Alex waiting out in the truck for me.
“Is there anything I can do to help?”
I just looked at him for a minute, suddenly feeling incredibly guilty for having to have Alex mess with his memory. My eyes dropped to the cast on his right arm for a moment. He scratched at a spot where his cast ended. “No, but thanks, Austin.”
The drive both flew by and crawled at the same time. I felt a sinking sensation in the pit of my stomach at the thought of going to England to find Cole. The last time I had actually seen him was when he killed Alex. I wasn’t sure how I was going to react to seeing him again but I was sure it wasn’t going to be good. And the panic and urgency I felt to get Emily out of a situation she didn’t fully understand was getting more frantic by the hour.
And yet at the same time I felt a rising anticipation at the evening before us. The memory of a day so similar in the past haunted me. The day we spent in Seattle just bumming around and the night on the yacht when Alex was supposed to propose to me. I wasn’t getting my hopes up that Alex might change his mind but it still sent warm, tingly feelings throughout my body to think about it.
Alex had been right when he said I was going to like the suite. It was on the top floor of the hotel and had an immaculate view of the water. The whole suite was twice as big as my apartment. It looked like something right out of a travel magazine.
Once we got our bags into the room, I found myself out on the balcony, soaking up the summer sunshine. Alex came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist.
I closed my eyes and smiled in sheer bliss. Alex’s familiar scent filled my senses and the warmth of his body radiated throughout my skin. It was amazing the emotions he invoked in me. I didn’t have words for how much I loved him or for how happy I was.
Before I even realized what I was doing, I had turned around and pushed Alex back into the room with much more force that I should have been capable of. My lips greedily found his and the two of us tumbled onto the plush carpet.
We might have gotten carried away if it hadn’t have been for the sudden explosion of Alex’s shirt and my scream. In Alex’s loss of concentration he had lost control of his ever constant struggle to keep his wings contained and they had burst forth with blinding glory. My scream of surprise sent both of us into a fit of laughter immediately after.
The wings might have frightened me but I hesitantly reached a hand towards them as we lay on the floor, gently tracing my fingers along a few of the feathers. I had never felt anything so soft and perfect. Even though I didn’t meet his eyes, Alex stared intently into mine. His body was still half on top of mine, propped up on his muscled arms, just staring at me as I stroked the feathers.
“Let’s go do something fun tonight,” Alex finally said. “When was the last time you went dancing?”
“Uh… never?” I said hesitantly. “Well, I guess that’s what Emily tried to get me to do when she took me out that night. I don’t think that really counts though.” I shuddered at the memory.
“I’m going to take you dancing. I heard of this really cool club. I think we should go.”
I bit my lower lip in uncertainty. My last experience at a club hadn’t been great. But if Alex was involved I was willing to do anything. And besides, this might be the last chance I had to do anything just for the heck of it in a long time. Terrible things were going to be occurring soon and were probably already happening. “Okay.”
Alex gave me a quick grin and the next second he was gone and I heard the shower turn on.
I simply smiled as I sat up and then blushed when I saw his clothes in a heap at the foot of the bed. As I heard the shower curtain being pulled open then closed, I noticed a few things had fallen out of the pocket of his jeans. I bent to pick them up, wanting to make sure he didn’t lose them. My heart froze for a moment before breaking out into a throbbing race as I saw a small black box lying next to his keys.
The velvet on the box looked worn and had quite a bit of lint stuck to it, as if it had been in Alex’s pocket for months. I knew what this type of box was for. There was only one thing Alex would have carried in his pocket for weeks and weeks like this.
I felt sick and excited at the same time as I held the box. I wanted to see the ring more than anything, yet at the same time I knew what it was going to do to me emotionally. It was going to crush me again. I didn’t want to go back to feeling like that again and I didn’t want to make Alex have to deal with that either. We had bigger things going on right now.
My stomach sinking, I put the keys and the box back in Alex’s pocket and arranged his pants so they wouldn’t fall back out again.
I had just pulled some new clothes out of my suitcase when Alex walked out of the shower, water beaded in his sandy blond hair and streaking down the bare skin of his chest. I blushed when I noticed he was wearing only a towel.
A soft moan escaped my lips as I walked toward him. “Are you trying to torture me?” I teased as I pressed a brief kiss to his lips before locking myself in the bathroom so I wouldn’t do anything irrational.
X
I might have felt embarrassed for the looks I was receiving from about half the guys at the club if it wasn’t for the looks Alex was getting from all the women. I couldn’t blame them for staring. Alex was unquestionably the most beautiful creature walking this planet, but the lights that flashed and pulsed a
round us only seemed to enhance the unearthly effect. And I had to stop and stare at myself when I caught a glimpse of me in a mirror. There was most definitely something wrong with me.
There was something intoxicating in the air that night. Maybe it was the pulsing music, the flashing of the lights. Maybe it was the way we all moved, surging and flowing in a throbbing mass of dance. Whatever it was, I liked it.
We stood in the middle of the dance floor, the crowd pushing in around us. I noticed her across the club, watching us as we moved. She had curves any porn star would have sold her soul for and blond hair that looked like it had leapt straight out of a fashion magazine. After a moment I realized it wasn’t us she was watching. It was just Alex.
The edges of her lips curled up and she worked her way through the crowd. Her eyes never left Alex’s face.
In that moment, I saw every girl who had called me a freak and made fun of me in high school. I would never be like them.
Much to my satisfaction, as soon as Alex noticed her, he pulled me all the closer as the song changed and the tempo picked up. As I caught the woman’s eye she simply winked at me, a slight smile on her face, and walked the other way, her eyes scoping out her next victim.
I knew Emily had been right, I had seen the way other women looked at Alex, but I had never seen the effect he had on women like she had said. I would bet any other woman here would do anything to have Alex dance with them like he was dancing with me. And he was mine.
I could only imagine what my parents would think if they saw the way everyone in the club was dancing, myself included. I had never moved this way before in my life. Something felt alive in me in a way I had never felt before. A hungry feeling for more. Maybe it was the time Alex and I had spent in the suite that had gotten me feeling this way. Maybe it was just Alex and the way he was touching me.
A strange excitement spread from my stomach out to my toes and fingers as our bodies melded into one. Alex’s lips played at my neck, his breath causing goose bumps to rise on my flesh. Of one thing I was certain, I didn’t want this night to end. I was seeing a slightly different side of Alex I had never seen before. It was one that didn’t want to hold back. I liked it.
And yet the pounding music was also causing my head to throb. My eyes ached from it all. I smelled all the alcohol that was being passed around, smelled the smoke that held on to people’s breath. It felt like the whole building was about to collapse in on me.
“I’ll be right back,” I yelled over the loud music. As soon as I did, I realized yelling wasn’t necessary, Alex would have heard me even if I had whispered it.
As I walked toward the bathrooms, I hoped I wouldn’t come back and have to battle a hoard of women off Alex. Considering all the hungry looks he was getting, it seemed likely.
The smell in the woman’s bathroom was enough to make my stomach roll. Evidence of human waste was obvious, cigarette butts had been left in the sink, the garbage can was overflowing. There was another person in the stall next to me and after a minute I realized there were actually two, both wearing heals. I got in and out, trying to touch as little as possible. After I made my escape I stepped out the back door to try and get some fresh air, afraid my stomach wouldn’t handle any more of the stench.
The night was still warm but at least the air wasn’t so muggy like it had been inside. The symphony of the city sounded around me as I stood in the heart of it.
I was about to go back inside when a noise from just a few yards away made me jump, the cacophony of garbage cans getting plowed into. It was followed by a yell and a curse.
The smart thing to do would have been to go back inside and not think twice about it but my curiosity got the best of me. I stepped cautiously forward, my eyes adjusting to the dim light.
For a moment my blood ran cold and all sound dropped away. A flash of metallic light and feathers came into sight for the briefest moment. I might have wondered I had imagined it but the face that looked up at me from the ground told me I hadn’t. It was also different from the one I expected.
“Adam?!” I shrieked as I backed away a few steps, my back pressed to the cold brick wall.
“What?” he gasped as he struggled to stand up. His clothes were dirty and wrinkled and I was horrified to see a small hole in his shirt above his left breast, blood soaking it.
“What happened?” I said, my voice suddenly hoarse and quiet.
He looked down at his shirt and squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. He placed his hands on either side of his head. “What year is et?” he said with a heavy Scottish accent that took me even more off guard than I already was.
“What did you say?” I whispered again. I was still so in shock to see him here in the real world, this man who had bound and transported me from a cell to the place of judgment thousands of times.
“What year is et?” he repeated as he looked me in the eye, the same steely gray as Alex’s.
I told him, my voice quivering. My mind struggled to catch up to what was happening.
“Holy shize!” he cried. “Et’s been eighteen years?”
“Eighteen years since what?” I asked, unsure if I wanted the answer.
“Since I wus shot!” he exclaimed as he stuck a finger in the hole in his shirt. “Since I wus left ta die, bleedin’ in the streets!”
I didn’t know what to say or how to react. How could this keep happening to me? I thought I had escaped the world of angels, save Alex, but here another one was, yet again. “Alex?” I called, my voice unsure and weak.
Not two seconds later, the back door burst open and Alex’s perfect form was at my side.
Had I been normal, things would have happened too fast for me to see. Surprise and uncertainty spread on Alex’s face as he took Adam in. The next moment Adam was in Alex’s face, Alex’s shirt bunched up in his hands. For a moment, terrifying malice filled Adam’s face, quickly replaced by one filled with awe.
“You’re the one they allowed ta return?” Adam’s voice was filled with amazement. “You’re not the escaped one.”
“I most definitely am not Cole,” Alex said, a hint of disgust in his voice.
“Do ya know where he es?” Adam asked as he released Alex.
“We’re leaving tomorrow to find him,” I said quietly as I stepped closer to Alex’s side.
“Ya have ta let me come with ya,” he said, his eyes pleading and fierce.
“We can handle it,” Alex said as he grabbed my hand and started walking away. “Just go back. I’ll make sure he finds his way back to you.”
“Please, ya have ta let me come with ya,” he pleaded again. “They won’ let me move on ‘til I make him come back.”
I had wondered many times why Adam had had to wait to be judged. Whatever the reason, here was his chance to finally move on. It was unfair that he had to wait so long.
“Alex, let him come,” I whispered, even though I knew Adam would be able to hear me.
“You know what he is, right?” Alex asked me, looking me in the eye.
I simply nodded.
Alex looked like he was debating with himself but I somehow sensed it didn’t matter what his answer would be. I was sure Adam would get to Cole one way or another. If there was any way to speed this up I was willing to do it. I didn’t see how it would hurt to have Adam come with us.
“We’re flying out tomorrow, bright and early,” Alex finally said
“I don’ have any money,” Adam said, his voice sounding slightly downfallen. “At least I don’ think I still have a bank account since I’ve been dead for eighteen years. But I have ta go.”
Alex sighed and shook his head. I couldn’t blame him for feeling a bit annoyed. “Come on,” Alex said as he continued down the alley.
“Thank you,” he said as he followed us. “Ma name es Cormack by the way. Cormack MacKenzie.”
Not Adam. Guess I should have figured that wasn’t his real name.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
JESSICA
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nbsp; The international flight was nearly full. Cormack was lucky we were able to get another seat and located so close to ours. We had gotten two end seats and he got the one right across the aisle from us.
I still couldn’t believe what was happening. Adam, or rather Cormack, the man from my dreams who never said a word as he transported me to hell, was sitting not three feet away from me. Now Alex wasn’t the only one getting open-mouthed stares from everyone. Cormack too was beautiful and just slightly not right looking. He might have better passed for human last night with all the dirt and grime on his face from suddenly reappearing into the world into a garbage can, his hair wild messy. But with his flawless skin now clean, his thick black hair now washed and combed it seemed it should have been obvious what he was.
The three of us said little as the flight prepared to take off and the attendants bustled around. Once we were in the air and on our way I couldn’t hold back the questions anymore.
“So why were you at the club last night?” I asked. Even though the noise in the airplane was loud I didn’t speak any louder than I normally would have. I knew both Alex and Cormack would be able to hear me, just as I would be able to hear them.
“I came to America about nineteen years ago, unsure of what to do with ma life, just knowin’ I wanted somethin’ different,” Cormack said as he leaned slightly toward me in his seat. “Seattle seemed like an interestin’ place, so I settled. I’d been livin’ there about a year when I went out for a little fun one night. Went into the same club you came out ‘a and this fellow tries robbin’ me. I wus a complete idiot and tried to put up a fight and the man shot me. Right in the very place I exploded back into the world ‘o the living.”
It made sense. You came back wherever you were taken out of this world. Alex had been dead less than a full day but his body hadn’t been moved. He had come back into the same room. The day he went missing he had been getting dressed in his room. When he came back he exploded into his room and mangled his bedroom door. I wondered where Cole had died and then come back to.