by Tara Brown
My eyes darted at Dorian who started to laugh. “Oh, Aimee. You really have the worst luck.”
“You told him I died. How is it possible he’s here?”
“I don’t know. I did as you asked. I can’t help it if the poor mortal is still hung up on you.”
“Shit!” I stood from the table, realizing Shane had tricks up his sleeve I wasn’t prepared for. Nervously, I walked outside the entryway to see him pacing back and forth like a caged tiger.
His eyes were hollow and dark, not the Shane I was used to seeing.
“Shane”—I glanced around, confused—“how did you know to come here?”
“I found this funny note in my old album of photos of you. Told me that if a dude with dark hair ever came to tell me you were dead, it was a lie. It had an address next to it.” His voice cracked.
“I’m sorry, Shane.”
“Your dad is totally at peace with this bullshit,” he fumed.
I walked toward him, feeling the donuts coming back up.
“He’s all alone now, all alone.” He spit his words at me.
I whispered mine almost silently, “I’m being hunted. It’s better if I’m not near you guys.”
“Oh whatever, Aimee. You can’t leave for a year and a half, not be my girlfriend anymore, not be with me, and still make me feel like this.”
“Shane, think about it from a police officer’s perspective.”
He threw his arms in the air. “Goddamn, Aimes, what the hell did you do?”
I flinched. “I made a mistake. You and my dad can’t pay for the rest of his life for what I did.”
His gaze seared through me. “He’s paying, Aimee. I’m paying. We are all paying. You sure this was worth the price?”
“I would have died, Shane. Is that what you would’ve preferred—the happy ending liver failure would’ve gave me a year and a half ago?”
“Of course not, but this isn’t a solution either. I’m miserable because I love you. Your dad is alone because he thinks you’re dead, and you’re here living the life with Aleks.”
“LIVING THE LIFE? SCREW YOU, SHANE!” My fingers sparked.
He stepped toward me, grabbing my face and kissing me as hard as he could. My lips pressed against my teeth, hurting me. I didn’t fight him. My hands were on fire, wanting to suck his soul from him. His hands gripped me, nearly ripping my skin. He pulled back, screaming, “I WANT MY CHANCE. I WANT TO BE WITH YOU, I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU ARE.”
I stepped away from him, sobbing and trying to whisper, “I know.”
He shook his head as a tear rolled down his cheek. “I won’t leave. I won’t be a part of that lie, unless I am a part of your life.” He pointed in the direction of Port Mackenzie.
“Okay, okay,” I sniffled, wiping my face. I stepped into his embrace and whispered hastily, “They watch me at all times. I need to end it with you right here and now, and you need to leave. I will come to your room tonight at your mom’s. We will find a way, but we have to be smarter than yelling in a driveway for all my enemies to see.”
He mouthed back, “Okay.”
“I am so sorry.” I pushed him, shouting, “Go home, Shane. I’m with Aleks. I chose him a long time ago. I don’t love you. Just go home.” I turned away from him and stormed into the house and closed the door. I watched him get into his truck unharmed. I hoped he would stay that way. It terrified me, knowing he was alone.
“I’ll go ride with him.”
I turned to see Aleks.
“Thank you.”
He smiled. “I owe you that, at the very least, Aimee.” He was gone, filling the air with the warm wind. A smile found its way to my lips as I thought about him sitting in Shane’s truck, cloaked. I couldn’t imagine the two of them on a road trip for that many hours. I was glad Shane would be unaware of Aleks. I realized then the depth of Aleks’ love. He would do that for me, knowing it would never get him anywhere or bring him anything.
I wished for a small moment I could love Aleks the way he needed and deserved to be loved. My life would be considerably easier with Aleks than it ever would with Shane, even though it could never be. My heart had chosen its path. I just had to make it happen. My stomach twinged, thinking about the night to come. Anticipation filled me as I walked back inside. “Annabelle, I need that rose oil bubble bath.”
Chapter 32
Nephilim
Ari
The dark night smelled sweet as the streets steamed from the last rain still fresh on the ground. I nodded at Aimee as we entered the minivan. We’d been told to take the huge van as the exact number of kids had not yet been confirmed. The minivan was a precaution if there were too many and Aimee couldn’t wink us out.
We knew nothing about the children, beyond their being special and the Dark Ones wanted them, dead or alive.
That made them of importance to Lorri. She wanted whatever Daniel wanted, and she would have it first. Currently, the kids were staying at a government facility. A place the bad guys had thoughts of raiding. Lydia had found the information inside Andy Cromwell’s mind right before she died.
The drive was short as Aimee had ordered the van dropped to a location close to our destination.
We didn’t even get into small talk.
Nerves shot through me as we got closer to the large warehouse-looking building. It had very few windows and almost no doors. We surveyed the area for nine hours straight, watching vehicles go in and out. Nearly all the cars were black and shiny, government.
As dusk began to settle in the sky, we approached the building with Aimee winking the entire way.
I gave her a smug grin as I flashed a hand past the scanner. The door lock blinked green.
“Don’t get cocky. The kids we’re rescuing are a prime example of what happens to those caught by humans,” Aimee whispered as she opened the door, peeking in. “God only knows, or rather, doesn’t want to know what the humans have done to them.”
She had a point.
We stalked in, seeing the crates and forklifts first. The rest of the huge cement room was set up like an industrial shipping area. It appeared to be a huge government warehouse but nothing had come or gone that resembled shipments being made from the area. I suspected the crates and equipment were a front.
A black metal door stood ominously behind one of the forklifts.
“Holy balls, that’s obsidian.”
A door made of granite-like rock seemed silly, but I remembered something about immortals’ capabilities being blocked by certain metals and stones. I panicked a little as I imagined being powerless on the other side of the door.
I spoke in a low tone, “Can you get us past it?”
Aimee bit her lip. “No, I don’t think so. It’s devil’s rock. Flash your hand.”
I flashed my hand. It was a neat trick I’d learned from my dad, Dorian. He told me the doors would just open like ladies’ bras did for things like us. It was a touching moment. He taught me to break into places, and I threw up a little thinking about it and the comment he’d made after, wondering if Aimee would ever be into him. I cringed and opened the door.
“I’m powerless inside there.”
“I think we both might be. That door makes me feel funny.”
Aimee glared, surveying the room. “If they were smart, they would have built the whole damned warehouse with it.”
“Thankfully, it’s the government—they’re not smart.”
In the hallway she tried to wink ahead but couldn’t.
We walked along the hallway until we reached another doorway. When we passed through it my fingers sparked again.
“I have a charge again. It’s weak, like something is blocking it,” I whispered.
Aimee winked, but nothing happened. “I got nothing.”
We got to a small room with the door open. We scanned the inside to find a pink bed and a dresser covered in books. A blue jump rope sat on the floor beneath my feet. I closed the door, checking around the room for its occupant
. I smelled something, perfume perhaps.
“This looks like my sister’s room. This will never fly with Annabelle,” I muttered, looking at the clothes covering the floor at the base of the closet.
“Who are you?” a small female voice squeaked at me.
Nearly jumping out of our skin, we turned toward the voice, seeing nothing.
Aimee spoke softly again, “Your salvation. Who are you?”
“Sarah, Sarah Martin. Why are you my salvation?” The girl sounded surprisingly calm for having strangers in her room. This made me sad. It was as if the kid had a clinical approach to everything, possibly because of a lack of tenderness.
“May I read you? Hold your hand out. I will touch it and see what your intentions are,” her little voice squeaked.
Aimee nodded, putting her hand out slowly.
Moments passed with Aimee standing perfectly still, as tiny fingers reached out of the air, gripping to hers. No body appeared to be attached to the hand, it floated and gripped to Aimee.
“I’m a fire witch.” The little girl sighed like she was relieved after she read us off of Aimee’s hand. “Thank God. I was wondering if you would ever come. We have to hurry. If we get to Danny first, he’ll tell all the others before the bad people get here.”
When she appeared she was a cute blonde with curly long hair in pigtails. She looked about ten at the most, with very pale skin from lack of sunshine, soft-brown eyes, and a few teeth missing.
I opened the door and peeked a head out into the hall. We walked with the girl until we were three doors down on the right-hand side. She opened the door and spoke softly, “Danny, they’re here. Tell the others we have to go now.”
Aimee frowned, seeming as confused as I was. “Do your powers work in here?”
The little girl frowned back. “Of course. Well, only here in the bedrooms.”
We walked behind the little girl as she pointed to Danny. He was a chubby boy with dark-brown hair, dark skin, and dark eyes. He looked about twelve at the most. Danny sat playing a video game. “They’ll be here in a minute. Dawn doesn’t want to come. I’m Danny.” His eyes never left his game.
Aimee smiled. “Hi Danny. I’m Aimee. This is my best friend, Ari. We need you guys to be ready to go in about a minute. Will they be here soon? Is there someone here who is blocking our powers?”
Danny spoke softly, “They’ll be here in a minute, and that would be Anne.”
He pointed as a beautiful girl with big black-colored eyes and silky brown hair came strolling in. She was so beautiful and old. Not at all what Amy had imagined when Lydia called them children, but when considering the source, it seemed to fit. Even Lorri was a child compared to Lydia.
“Hi, Anne. I’m Aimee. Is there any way to turn that off?”
Anne stared oddly at us and spoke, almost rudely. “No. I don’t control where it happens—it just does. If I could control it, I wouldn’t be here with the A-Team.”
I raised my eyebrows at the girl, wanting to slap her silly, but instead took a deep breath. Six kids strolled into the room, making the total eight.
“Eight of you? Right, well let’s get out of here then. Everyone has to touch at the exact moment I wink. Do you understand?”
They all nodded, except one girl I assumed was Dawn. She appeared defiant, just standing there.
“Do you have a problem?” I asked pointedly.
Everyone else sighed as the girl answered, “Yes, I have a problem. I don’t want to leave. We are asking for trouble. Here they feed us and give us clothes and somewhere warm to live. I am tired of running and I want to stay.”
I gestured at Aimee. “That one’s yours, dude.”
Aimee leaned in, giving the girl an intense stare. “Our options are to end you or take you. So your choice will result in one of those two selections.”
The kids around us, mostly teenagers, all looked like their eyes might come out of their heads.
“You’re a death dealer. Sam saw you coming. He saw you taking us to some old house. You can’t kill us. God won’t let you.” Dawn crossed her arms insolently.
Aimee grinned. “Why would you think I serve God? He didn’t make me.”
The girl swallowed like she had a lump in her throat and took the hand of the girl beside me.
A noise made us all jump.
“Now!” Aimee screamed as the kids all ran. At the end of the hall I opened another black door leading into a different part of the warehouse.
“WE’RE FREE, AIMES. NOW!”
Aimee put her hands out and winked us all away as fast as she could. But not fast enough. As I faded away I caught a glimpse of Daniel’s panicked face as he reached for me too late.
I opened my eyes to the minivan parked miles away. I paused momentarily with my heart pounding in my chest after seeing his face. Daniel was blatantly upset. I smiled pondering it.
“Well, now we know that works. Let’s leave the minivan and try to get to Lydia’s.”
“Wait.” A guy my age spoke low, “We need to get there as fast as you’re able to. We have a small problem you’re not aware of.” He peered around at the kids, all reaching in to touch Aimee. “This group of kids are the most dangerous weapons on the planet, and you’ve just taken us out of the only place we were guaranteed not to do bad things to the world. There will be people after us from here on out.” He raised an eyebrow, looking extremely unhappy with his circumstances.
Aimee nodded. “We didn’t decide to come get you on a whim, contrary to your belief. We have given this a lot of thought and the woods near our house are the safest on this continent. You will be safe there. We just have to get you there. We’re not exactly without skills. We’ll do our best for you and them.”
Anne crossed her arms. “You might want to hurry.”
“Little brats.” I shook my head in disbelief. They were the least grateful group I had ever met. They had no idea of the kind of things I had saved them from.
“Anne, just out of curiosity, why was your block only working on us? How come the other people in the little science-experiment camp could use their gifts of foresight, or vanishing, or whatever, but ours were blocked?”
Anne shrugged. “I didn’t know you. That makes you a threat to me. No one has ever explained to me how this all works—they just get excited that it does. I have the ability to put up a shield around myself and others near me, against threats.”
“Does that mean they won’t be able to track you to Lydia’s house or sense you being there?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had it explained to me. Pretty sure I just said that.”
I wanted to choke her but Aimee winked us to the woods near Lydia’s. She did it in case one of them was bad; Lydia could read them from the distance as we walked to the house.
“Aimee, are we almost there? I’m hungry and I need to pee,” a small voice came from behind me.
“Yeah, I don’t feel so good.”
The guy who was my age groaned, “If we stop now, they will find us and make us do the bad things again, okay? Everyone just follow Aimee and Ari.”
I observed him for a second, startled by the fact he was a good-looking guy. His brown hair was soft looking, framing his handsome face. He had dark-brown eyes that appeared black in the night. I took a deep breath to cool myself off. He had the same effect as Aleks. He made me want to lean in and take a deep sniff of him.
I recalled the comment Anne had made about my being a threat. “So what the heck are you guys?”
The older guy shook his head. “Not right now.”
I raised my eyebrows in annoyance. “We just saved you and that’s your answer—not right now? Fair enough. You’ve been nothing but ungrateful since we met you, so why not continue in that direction. We’re here anyway. See the huge house? That’s your new home away from home.”
Lydia and Annabelle waved at them from the front door as the huge crowd walked into the driveway. Lydia was likely reading every single one of them.
I rolled my eyes, watching the older guy walk into the house. “Weird would be the better word.”
Aimee shrugged. “We got there just before Daniel. He was pissed that we got the kids first.”
Lydia corrected, “Not kids, Aimee. Those are something else. They’re half angels, like from the tales of long ago. Those kids are the product of very old and powerful angels. They’re like Ari, and possibly the problem we have foreseen for a long time. We need them to agree to live here, maybe forever.”
“So we are essentially doing the same thing as the government, making them stay in a place against their will.”
“No.” Lydia continued, “No, they must choose this. We cannot bend their will for them. They have to see the power they carry is too much to take for granted.”
“That’s a horrid lesson to learn, trust me.”
“Why did the Dark Ones want them dead?”
Lydia’s eyes shone in the moonlight coming in the window. “Someone has seen them as tipping the scales in our favor. Someone has seen them choose our side.”
“Well, it’s not like we couldn’t use the help.”
Lydia’s eyes focused on the old house. “It’s about balance. Not one side winning, but both sides finding equal ground.”
Aimee smiled. “I’m going to finish a few things and go home for the night. I need some sleep.”
I laughed. “Don’t forget to call about the van. Say it broke down. It’s my Visa, Aimes.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Aimee walked away, waving. “I will. Good luck tonight.” She winked and was gone.
I glanced up at the house. “Where will they all sleep?”
Lydia giggled. “Oh, this old house always finds places to make a room or two, when needed.”
I laughed, walking inside to help the new additions get acquainted.
Lucas smiled at me from across the kitchen. “There’s my girl.”