Fallen: Angels in the Dark

by Kate, Lauren

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2013 by Tinderbox Books, LLC. and Lauren Kate.

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

  Delacorte Press is a registered trademark and the colophon is a trademark of Random House LLC.

  RandomHouse.com/teens

  FallenBooks.com

  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  ISBN 978-0-385-38805-4 (ebook)

  First Delacorte Press Ebook Edition 2013

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  Fallen: Angels in the Dark is a 50+ page collection of intense moments and amazing insights from the dangerously romantic world of the #1 New York Times bestselling Fallen series: A party goes terribly wrong. Arriane goes on a heavenly shopping spree. Daniel navigates the streets of L.A. Miles takes a step into darkness. An uncomfortable scene occurs at Shoreline. An angel is on the hunt. Luce and Daniel go on a date. This digital collection offers a unique glimpse into the world of Fallen and is a must-have for any fan of Lauren Kate.

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  About the Author

  What Happened to Trevor

  Arriane’s Day Out

  Daniel in L.A.

  Miles in the Dark

  Inside Francesca’s Office

  Cam Goes Hunting

  Luce and Daniel’s Date

  Excerpt from Teardrop

  Prologue Prehistory

  1: Eureka

  Lauren Kate is the internationally bestselling author of Teardrop and the FALLEN novels: Fallen, Torment, Passion, Rapture, and Fallen in Love, as well as The Betrayal of Natalie Hargrove. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages. She lives in Los Angeles. Visit her online at laurenkatebooks.net.

  WHAT HAPPENED TO TREVOR

  Luce eased the motorcycle to a stop in front of the lake house.

  She was in love. With the bike: It was a gold 1986 Honda Shadow, and it was beautiful.

  Her classmate mad Rachel Allison, with her dyed-red hair and immaculate French, had grown up and still lived just a few miles north of their school, Dover Prep. So whenever Rachel’s parents left town, most of their class—the in crowd, at least—turned out for the inevitable party.

  This was Luce’s first time.

  When she’d clocked out after her shift at Pisani’s Bike and Body Shop, Luce had had three texts from Callie: One with directions to the party. Another to let Luce know that Callie had borrowed her black flip-flops. And a third with a picture of Callie sipping a mai tai aboard one of Rachel’s speedboats.

  But it was the voice mail—no, the voice in the background of the voice mail Callie left—that convinced Luce to make an appearance.

  Trevor Beckman saying: Tell Luce to hurry up and get here.

  He was easily the coolest guy in their class. The cutest, too. Trevor was the basketball team captain, the homecoming king, and Luce’s biology lab partner. He was also Rachel Allison’s sometime boyfriend.

  And yet: He wanted Luce to hurry up and get there.

  Of course, Luce had a crush on Trevor. Who wouldn’t have a crush on Trevor? Tall and strong and always laughing, with dark brown hair that matched his eyes—everything about the guy was crushable.

  But it was the kind of crush Luce never planned on actually doing anything about. She didn’t go after guys. She never had. It drove Callie crazy, but Luce was perfectly comfortable admiring Trevor and his muscles from afar. Much more comfortable than she was going to be walking into this party.

  She cut the bike’s engine and hopped off before anyone could see her and wonder how on earth she could afford a ride like that.

  Luce couldn’t afford it. She had it on loan for one night from the bike shop, where she’d been working part-time for the past six semesters just to be able to afford “incidentals” at Dover. Her room and board were covered, embarrassingly, by the school’s one and only scholarship.

  To preserve that scholarship, Luce had made it through three years of honors classes, keeping a straight-A average. Not to mention three years of keeping her weekly therapy sessions at Shady Pines a secret from everyone at school.

  She probably would have made it through three years without ever going to one of Rachel’s famous parties if it hadn’t been for Mr. Pisani’s son. Joe was a few years older than Luce. Sexy in a dark sort of way. He’d always looked out for her, ever since she’d started working at the shop. He also knew she coveted the bike he’d resurrected from a heap of scrap metal. Just before Luce left for the night, he’d slipped the key into her palm.

  “What’s this?”

  “I heard there’s some party tonight.” He smiled. “Don’t you need a ride out to the lake?”

  At first, Luce shook her head. She couldn’t possibly. But then—

  In three days, she’d fly home to spend the summer with her parents in Thunderbolt, Georgia, where things would be quiet and easy and comfortable. And boring.

  Three whole months of very, very boring.

  “Have fun.” Joe winked at Luce.

  And then she took off. The feeling of riding a motorcycle, of the wind coursing over her face, of the speed, the thrill of it all, was familiar and yet like nothing else in the world.

  It made her feel like she was flying.

  When she crossed the tiki-torch-adorned threshold of the party, Luce spotted Callie standing near the water, surrounded by a circle of guys. She was wearing a red bikini top, Luce’s flip-flops, and a long white sarong.

  “Finally!” she squealed when she saw Luce. Callie’s wet corkscrew curls bounced when she laughed. She must have just gone swimming, which Luce couldn’t imagine doing in the cold, black lake beyond them. Callie was the kind of fearless that meant she always found her way into a good time. She pulled Luce close and whispered, “Guess who just had the most gigantic fight?”

  Trevor was walking toward them, holding a drink and wearing his basketball jersey and swim trunks. Behind him, a few feet away, Rachel’s face was ablaze.

  “Perfect timing,” he said, smiling at Luce. His words came out a little slurred.

  “Trevor!” Rachel bellowed. She looked very much like she wanted to trail after him, but she stood still, hands on her hips. “That’s it. I’m telling the bartender you’re cut off!”

  Trevor stopped in front of Luce. “How ’bout a trip to the bar with me?”

  Callie gave Luce’s back a shove just before she disappeared, and Luce was alone with Trevor Beckman.

  Maybe she should have changed out of her greasy white T-shirt and cutoffs before showing up. Luce tugged at the elastic band to release the long braid she wore to work. She could feel Trevor’s eyes on her dark, wavy hair, which flowed halfway down her back. “A drink sounds good.”

  Trevor smiled, leading the way toward the bar.

  In the middle of the lawn, Rachel had gathered her minions around her. When Luce walked by with Trevor, Rachel tilted her head up and sniffed the air. “What smells like a gas station?”

  “Eau de working class,” answered Rachel’s number two. Shawna Clip was just as mean as Rachel but not as smart.

  “Sorry,” Trevor said, pulling Luce away. “They’re such bitches.”

 
Luce’s cheeks grew warm. She wasn’t affected by Rachel’s insults, but it was embarrassing that Trevor thought she might be. He stared at her for a moment, then steered her right past the bar. “On second thought, Rachel’s dad keeps the cabins stocked with booze, too.” He grinned at her and nodded toward the woods, toward the moonlit path that led to Lake Winnipesaukee. The tiki torches only went so far, and beyond that were just the big black woods.

  Luce faltered. The woods were one of the reasons she avoided these parties. For everyone else, the dark of night meant it was time to get crazy in a good way.

  For Luce, it was when the shadows came out.

  The bad kind of crazy.

  But this was her first time one-on-one with Trevor when they weren’t holding a scalpel and breathing in formaldehyde. She was not going to blow it by being the freaky girl who couldn’t go near the woods.

  “Through there?” Luce swallowed.

  He ran his thumb along her cheek. It made her shiver. “It’s only dark until you get to the clearing—and I’ll hold your hand the whole time.”

  It was as good an offer as anyone could make, but Luce would never be able to explain to Trevor why it wasn’t really good enough. Why she felt like she was walking into a nightmare she might not be able to wake up from. If the shadows were in there, they would find her. They would brush up against her like black sheets of ice. But she couldn’t tell him that.

  The dark closed in around them as they walked. Luce could sense murky things in the trees above their heads, could hear faint whooshes in the branches, but kept her eyes on the ground.

  Until something pinched her shoulder. Something cold and sharp that made her jump—right into Trevor’s arms.

  “Nothing to be afraid of. See?”

  Trevor started to turn her around, but Luce tugged on his hand. “Let’s just get to the cabin.”

  When they made it to the clearing, the moon came mercifully back into sight. A neat little row of cabins stood before them.

  Luce glanced at the woods but couldn’t see the way back to the party. She thought she heard the whooshing shadow in the trees again.

  “Race you,” she said.

  She took off toward the first cabin, Trevor close on her heels, until both of them collapsed at the door. They were laughing and out of breath. Luce’s heart raced from exertion and fear—and nervous anticipation about what they were doing so far away from everyone else.

  Trevor reached into his pocket and pulled out a key.

  The door creaked open and they stepped into the spare, clean cabin, which featured a fireplace, a small kitchen, and a very prominently placed king-sized bed. An hour ago, Luce never would have believed she’d be alone in a cabin with her crush of three whole years. She didn’t do things like this. She’d never done anything like this in her life.

  Trevor moved straight to the wet bar and started to pour something brown from a frosted glass bottle. When he handed her the small, half-full tumbler, she didn’t even know enough not to take a giant swig.

  “Whoa.” He laughed when she gagged. “Finally, someone who needs a drink as badly as me.”

  If Luce hadn’t still been reeling from the burning in her throat, she might have laughed and corrected his grammar, pointing out that what he meant to say was “someone who needs a drink as badly as I,” instead of what he had said—which meant she needed a drink as badly as she needed … him.

  He took her empty glass and wrapped an arm around her waist, drawing her so close that his body pressed against hers. She could feel his muscular chest, the warmth of his skin.

  “Rachel and I, we’re all wrong, you know?”

  Oh God. She was supposed to feel bad about this, wasn’t she? He was going to kiss her and she was going to kiss him back and that would mean that her first kiss was going to be with someone who had a girlfriend. A terrible witch of a girlfriend, but still. Luce did know that Trevor and Rachel were all wrong, but suddenly she also knew that Trevor was lying.

  Because he didn’t know that. He was only saying it so she’d fool around with him. Because probably he knew she adored him. Probably he’d caught her watching him countless times over the years. He must have felt pretty certain that she wanted him.

  She wanted him, yes, but until now it had always been in a far-off fantasy kind of way. Up close, she had no idea what to do with him.

  Now his face hovered over hers and his lips weren’t far away at all and his eyes looked different than they did in the yearbook picture Luce had gotten so used to.

  And suddenly, she realized she didn’t know him very well at all.

  But she wanted to. At the very least, she wanted to know what it felt like to be kissed, really kissed, pushed up against a wall and kissed intensely, until she was dizzy, until she was so filled with passion that there wasn’t any room for shadows or dark woods or a visit to the sanitarium.

  “Luce? Are you okay?”

  “Kiss me,” she whispered.

  It didn’t feel quite right, but it was too late. Trevor’s lips parted and came down on hers. She opened her mouth but found it hard to kiss him back. Her tongue felt all tied up. She was struggling in his arms as if in a dream, trying not to fight the kiss, trying just to take it in and let it happen.

  Trevor’s arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her to the bed. They sat down on the edge, still kissing. Her eyes were closed, but then she opened them. Trevor was staring directly at her.

  “What?” she asked nervously.

  “Nothing. You’re just so … beautiful.”

  She didn’t know what say to that, so she laughed.

  Trevor started kissing her again, his lips wet against her mouth, then her neck. She waited for the spark, for the fireworks Callie had told her about.

  But everything about kissing was different than she’d expected. She wasn’t sure how she felt about Trevor, his tongue on hers, his roving hands. But he seemed to know a lot more about this than she did. She tried to go with it.

  She heard something and pulled away from Trevor to look around the room. “What was that?”

  “What was what?” Trevor said, nibbling her earlobe.

  Luce glanced at the paneled wooden walls, but they were bare. She studied the fireplace, which was dark and still. For a second she thought she saw something—an ember, a flicker of yellow and red—but then it was gone.

  “Are you sure we’re alone?” she asked.

  “Of course.” Trevor’s hands gripped the bottom of her shirt, inching it up and over her head. Before she could say anything, she was sitting on the bright blue comforter in just her bra.

  “Whoa,” Trevor said, holding his hand over his eyes like he was staring into the sun.

  “What?” Luce winced, feeling pale and a little embarrassed.

  “Everything’s so bright all of a sudden,” Trevor said, blinking. “Isn’t it?”

  Luce thought she knew what he meant. Like something between them was lighting up the whole room. Was this the spark she’d been waiting for? She felt warm and alive, but also a little bit too aware of her body. And how exposed it was.

  It made her uncomfortable. When he leaned into her again, her insides felt like they were burning, like she’d swallowed something hot. Then the whole cabin warmed and grew way too light. It was getting hard to breathe, and she was suddenly, sharply dizzy, her vision burning bright as if the blood was rushing from her head. She couldn’t see a thing.

  Trevor grabbed her waist, but she began to pull away. She heard noises again, and she was sure someone else was there in the cabin, but she couldn’t see anyone, could only hear a growing racket, like the rasping of a thousand saws against a thousand metal sheets. She tried to move but felt like she was stuck, Trevor’s arms tightening around her. They gripped her rib cage until she thought he might break her bones, until his skin felt like it was burning into her flesh, until—

  Until he was gone.

  Someone was shaking Luce’s shoulders.

  It was Shaw
na Clip. She was screaming.

  “What did you do, Lucinda?”

  Luce blinked and shook her head. She was sitting outside in the smoky black night. Her throat stung and her skin felt raw and freezing cold.

  “Where’s Trevor?” she could hear herself murmur. The wind whipped through her hair. She reached up to brush the loose strands from her face and gasped when a whole lock of thick black hair seemed to slide right off her scalp. What landed in her palm was brittle and badly singed. She screamed.

  Luce stumbled to her feet. Crossed her arms over her chest and looked around. Still the cool, dark woods, still the sense of the hovering black shadows, still the neat row of cabins—

  The cabins were on fire.

  The cabin where she swore she’d just been with Trevor—Had she? How far had they gone? What had happened?—was now engulfed in flames. The cabins to the left and the right were just starting to catch fire from the blaze in the middle. The night air reeked of sulfur.

  The last thing she remembered was the kiss—

  “What the hell did you do with my boyfriend?”

  Rachel. She stood between Luce and the burning cabins, a bright red flush dotting her cheeks. The look in her eyes made Luce feel like a murderer.

  She opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

  Shawna pointed at Luce. “I followed her. I thought I would catch the two of them screwing around”—she covered her face with her hands and sniffled—“but they went inside, and then … the whole thing just exploded!”

  Rachel’s face and her body went slack as she swiveled back toward the cabin and began to wail. The awful sound rose in the night.

  It was only then that Luce realized, with a horrified clenching in her chest: Trevor was still inside.

  Then the roof of the cabin caved in, spitting out a plume of smoke.

  By then, the nearby cabins had really begun to burn, but Luce could feel a darkness hovering, huge and implacable. The shadows, once confined to the woods, now swirled directly above. So close she might have touched them. So close she could almost hear what they were whispering.