The Protect Her Box Set: Parts 7-9

by Ivy Sinclair

  The next thing I knew, I found that we were sitting on a patch of cool grass inside the confines of a black wrought iron fence. A tall brownstone loomed over our heads. Directly in front of us, a short flight of steps led up to a familiar door. I had guessed right. Riley had brought us to Sister Alice’s convent, which seemed to be his go-to place when he was in trouble. A full moon shone over my head. It took me a minute to remember the last time I had seen the sky. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

  The door to the convent flew open, and Sister Alice was framed in the doorway by the light from inside. I saw the shock on her face as she observed the exhausted, terrified party sitting in her front yard.

  “Alice!” Joanna was on her feet, and moving toward the other woman.

  “Joanna?”

  I had forgotten that Alice still thought that her childhood friend had perished five years ago. Alice met Joanna halfway down the stairs, and they embraced. They both laughed, and I saw the tears streaming down both of their faces. Joanna turned and beckoned Gabrielle.

  The two women were talking over each other even as Alice hugged Gabrielle.

  “How is this possible?” Finally, Alice’s question rose through the din.

  Joanna let out a long exhale. “I think we have a lot to talk about, Alice. It was Riley.”

  Alice’s eyes found Riley as he stood stiffly beside me. I looked back and forth between them. When I last saw them together, I had seen clear affection between them. But it was different now, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on what had changed. Alice’s smile fell from her face.

  “What has happened to you?” she asked. Her voice held a note of awe.

  “I was really hoping that maybe you could tell me,” Riley said.

  Alice released Joanna and made her way to the sidewalk. She slowly made her way to Riley. I stepped back as she closed in on him. I didn’t want to interrupt whatever reunion was about to take place. This was Riley’s family. Joanna, Gabrielle, and Alice. He needed to figure out what the future was going to look like for all of them moving forward, and it wasn’t going to be an easy thing. They did have a lot to talk about.

  She stopped a foot short of him and looked him up and down. We all waited in silence for what she was going to say next. If anyone had the answers as to the reason for Riley’s miraculous transition, it would be Alice.

  “I don’t understand what I’m seeing,” she said finally. “It is…impossible.”

  “What do you see?” Riley asked. His voice dropped to a harsh whisper.

  “A myth alive and in the flesh on my doorstep,” she said. She looked back over at her shoulder at Joanna with a questioning glance. Some kind of silent message passed between them. I saw Joanna’s face tighten but a moment later she gave Alice a small nod.

  “Joanna and I had hoped that this day would never come. We tried everything in our power to do the right thing for you, Riley. We wanted to change your destiny, and we failed. I’m sorry for that.”

  Riley’s face twisted in confusion. I started to move toward him, but he held up his hand to stop me. “Alice, speak English for once in your fucking life. I’m not in the mood for it. Really.”

  “Language, Riley!” Alice said, her voice sharp in the air. “Is that the way that you would chose to speak to your mother?”

  Riley’s eyes widened. “What did you say?”

  Alice sighed, but she stood up straighter. “That’s right. I am your mother. Now come inside and have some tea. I won’t have my son standing outside in the chilled night air, even if he is a dark angel.”

  CHAPTER NINE – RILEY

  I hadn’t said a word since Alice ushered us inside the convent. I wondered if it was possible that a person had too much hit them all at once, and then they simply imploded. My mother, or at least the woman I thought was my mother for the last twenty-eight years, watched me anxiously as Paige and I were deposited into the sitting room. I couldn’t meet her eyes.

  Alice pulled both her and my sister with her to the kitchen saying that she needed help with the tea. I had a feeling it was because Alice knew that I felt like I was about to fall apart, and I wasn’t sure what would happen after that.

  Two extreme revelations dropped on me in less than thirty seconds. Alice had called me a dark angel. I didn’t even know what a dark angel was, much less what it meant if suddenly I was one. Then there was the fact that apparently Alice was my mother. My mind kept jumping back and forth between these two pieces of information, because the truth of either one was just too big to deal with.

  “We should call Klein,” Paige said. She pulled up a footstool and sat down in front me. “Tell him to head this way. He could be useful, and we don’t want him hanging out near Calamata. It’s dangerous there.”

  “Sure,” I said. It sounded hollow even to me. “That’s a good idea.” I wasn’t sure why she’d bring up something so benign. She had heard Alice’s words just like I did.

  “Then we have to figure out a way to get the relic back from Proctor before he decides to use it for something really bad,” Paige said. “Plus, I need it to take on Eva.”

  I grunted. I was going to deal with Proctor soon enough. I just had to get my head straight in the meantime. Every few minutes, it felt like my skin was set on fire. Then as quickly as it came the sensation was extinguished. I had no idea what to make of that or if it was normal.

  “Ice skating,” Paige said.

  That got my attention. I squinted at her. “What?”

  “It was my favorite thing to do when I was little. I was absolutely horrible at it, by the way. The opposite of graceful. My parents would take me the rink and a few hours later we’d go home, and I’d be nothing but a mass of bumps and bruises. But I always felt awesome. Like I had conquered the world. There was something about feeling in control and out of control at the same time when I slid on the ice that I absolutely couldn’t get enough of. I think part of it was the fact that I loved winter too. I didn’t realize until I got my memories back why I’d always get so sad that time of year when I lived on Calamata. There was no snow, and it never got cold enough to freeze the lake, so there was no ice skating. I missed it.”

  I looked at her like she was crazy. “Why are we talking about ice skating again?”

  “We haven’t had any time to get to know each other like normal people,” Paige said. She shrugged. “We’re always talking about big, scary things. We never got a first date. We cruised right past third base in record time. And I barely know anything about you like the things that you liked to do when you grew up. I think it’s important that we pull some more of that normal, completely boring stuff into our conversations.”

  I couldn’t help but shake my head with a small smile. “I bet you had little tasseled pink pompoms on your skates.”

  “They were purple,” Paige said. “Purple was my favorite color back then. I had purple everything; purple walls, purple curtains, a purple comforter, purple clothes. It drove my parents nuts.”

  And just like that she brought me back to Alice. She must have seen my face fall because she reached out and put her hand on my knee. I felt a dart of energy at her touch, similar to the one that I felt earlier. Something had shifted between us, and there was a bond there now even if I couldn’t see it. I had the sense that I’d be able to find her wherever she was.

  That thought caught in my mind. I reached out and touched her cheek. Then I let my hand drift downward along her neck. I saw the goose bumps on her skin that told me that she was reacting to my touch. I didn’t know what I was expecting to see when I brushed aside the collar of her shift to expose her collarbone, but there was something there.

  I sucked in my breath. Benjamin had once tried to claim Paige as his by marking her with his symbol. It was usually invisible to the naked eye, and Paige hadn’t known anything about it. During her captivity with Proctor, the mark had been removed so that Benjamin couldn’t trace her and rescue her. Now another symbol glowed there, but it wasn’t the same as Benj
amin’s.

  Paige looked down, and I heard her small gasp. My fingers traced the small circle that had the appearance of flames around it. Inside the circle was a skull with wings behind it. Benjamin’s symbol had been a red rose with a single white petal encircled in gold. Mine carried a note of menace.

  She grasped my hand, and then placed the palm flat against her chest directly over the symbol. Instantly, the darts of energy were back, but this time it felt more like a tidal wave building inside of me. I could feel the rapid speed of her heartbeat battering against the inside of her chest. Her breath came in short gasps, and as I looked into her eyes, I could see that she felt every pulse of the sharp desire the way that I did.

  My ears picked up the sound of feet on the floor moving in our direction from the kitchen. I pulled back my hand, and the sensations were gone. Paige let out a deep sigh that seemed tinged with regret. “I guess that’s that then,” she said.

  “Did you feel anything like that…before?” I wasn’t sure that I wanted to know the answer. Paige had no idea how long Benjamin had marked her as his mate, but I had a sense it had been for quite some time based on Benjamin’s reaction to losing her. I shouldn’t keep comparing myself to the bastard, but it was hard not to. Benjamin was the archangel in charge on the earthly realm at the moment. I guess if I was an angel now that made him my boss. That wasn’t happening.

  “Never,” Paige shook her head vehemently. “I didn’t choose that before, and you know that. This is different.” She looked at me and then put her hand on her collarbone where the symbol was hidden from view again. “If this means what I think it does, I’m proud to have it. If you want me to wear halter tops for the rest of my life to show it off, I will.”

  I reached over and cupped her chin. Everything was crazy in my life, but Paige made me feel like it would all be okay. “That’s not necessary,” I chuckled. “Sometimes we might be places that would be cold, and you’d need a jacket.”

  The rattle of a tray caught my attention, and Paige stood up and turned around. Her cheeks burned red as if we had been caught necking. Alice stood there with a teapot. Joanna stood next to her holding a tray of cups. I wasn’t going to call her mother again. Their deception felt like it was ripping me apart because it made no sense.

  I smelled the soothing aroma of Alice’s Dragon Jasmine tea. My sister brought up the rear. Everyone commented about how Gabrielle and I looked like each other, right down to the unusual color of our green eyes. I had many questions about this clearly strange relationship between the women in front of me.

  Alice moved into the room first and set the teapot on the coffee table. The tray of cups followed. Then the three women settled into the remaining chairs. Paige returned to the footstool. I would have offered her my lap but didn’t figure that Alice would appreciate that. At the same time though, I wasn’t sure that I cared.

  Alice began to fuss with the tea pouring it into the cups and handing them around the room. I knew that it was just a matter of time before this little charade of perfectly relaxed visiting shattered into a million pieces. I decided that I wasn’t interested in waiting for whatever song and dance they had prepared for me.

  “So, what am I supposed to call you both now?” I asked. “Am I supposed to call you Joanna now? And switch to calling Alice Mom?” I looked at Joanna. It would take a long time before I wouldn’t think of her as my mother.

  “I am your mother,” Joanna said. “That hasn’t changed.”

  “Nothing has changed,” Alice said. Her face was unreadable. The woman was cool as a cucumber. “We had no plans ever to tell you the truth, but clearly events have forced our hand. In order for you to understand, you needed to know the truth. Otherwise, I see no reason for anything else to change.”

  “Are you serious?” Paige interjected. She sounded angry. “It changes everything, and I’m pretty sure that Riley had a right to know a long time ago.”

  “It’s okay, babe,” I said. “I can’t wait to hear this twisted tale.”

  “There’s nothing twisted about it,” Alice said. “I chose this life of service, and Joanna and her husband weren’t able to have children of their own. They took you and Gabrielle and gave you the home that I couldn’t provide. I trusted her implicitly with the ones I held most dear. She never disappointed me. You grew up healthy, and relatively happy, all things considered.”

  I glared at my sister. It made me feel somewhat better to hear that she was my sister. At least that part wasn’t a lie. “So you knew about this?”

  “Not until after you started showing signs of being a necromancer,” Gabrielle said quietly. “Mom told me the truth when you came here to train with Alice.”

  “Why would she tell you and not me?” I was angry, and at the moment it was directed at Gabrielle. I knew that was wrong, but none of this made sense. I wondered if it was possible that my life would ever feel normal or sane again.

  “Riley, that was a long time ago,” Alice said. “It was for Gabrielle’s protection and also for yours in case something happened to me and Joanna. Someone had to be ready to guide you. We couldn’t risk leaving the possibility open that something like this would happen, and you’d be alone.”

  “You mean, more alone than I already was?” I wanted to lash out at her. I thought about all the time I spent with her over the years, and the almost year that I lived here and saw her every day. Never once did she let on that there was anything more to our relationship. Even after my mother died five years ago, Alice never said a single thing to the contrary. It didn’t make any sense to me. For years, I felt abandoned by my father. It turns out that all along I had been abandoned by my mother too.

  “So my father?”

  “That’s irrelevant,” Alice said.

  I was on my feet in an instant, and I knew by the gasps of shock that my wings had made an appearance again. But I didn’t care. I felt like I had been led like a horse to water with this stuff. I never had a choice. There were no other options. It was as if I had been on a collision course with death and mayhem since the beginning.

  Alice was the only one in the room who didn’t flinch. She blew on her tea and took a sip. “We’re not going to get anywhere if you don’t calm down.”

  The woman was infuriating. “I’ll calm down when I feel like somebody’s telling me the truth, the whole truth! I feel like my whole life has been a lie.”

  “It is clear to me that your whole life has been structured in a way to make sure that you arrived here because this is what you were always meant to be,” Alice said. She put her cup down and pointed at my chair. “Now sit down. Enough of this.”

  I sat down because I couldn’t think of anything else to do. Then I wondered if I had the ability to read minds. That would come in handy and skip a lot of the bullshit. I thought hard about trying to get inside Alice’s head. It didn’t work.

  “Gabrielle, why don’t you go lie down before you fall down? You’ve been through an ordeal. My room is at the top of the stairs.” Alice pointed at the staircase behind her.

  I saw Gabrielle look between me and Joanna. Then Joanna nodded in agreement. “It’s okay. Go.”

  “I’d suggest the same for you, Joanna,” Alice said.

  Joanna shook her head. “I don’t think I could sleep even if I tried. Besides, we both owe Riley an explanation. Then he can decide what he wants to do next.”

  I knew what I was going to do next regardless of what they told me. That checkbox had Bruno Proctor’s name all over it.

  “Drink your tea, Riley. You’ll find that it has a calming effect even on those of your kind,” Alice said.

  My kind. I had changed party lines, and I still didn’t understand how or why.

  I forced myself to lean back in my chair. Paige scooted the footstool closer to my chair and leaned against me. It felt good to have her close. I was certain it offered a more soothing reaction than the tea.

  “Let’s hear it,” I said. “This had better be good.”

&n
bsp; CHAPTER TEN – SISTER ALICE

  It all started for me when I was eleven years old. That isn’t uncommon I discovered later. When a human reaches a certain age of maturity, if they have any supernatural inclinations, those usually begin to manifest around that time. The signs were so subtle that I didn’t notice them really. Feeling a breeze when there was none. Hearing noises when I was alone. Feeling like there was someone watching me in my dreams. These were things thought that could be easily explained away.

  I ignored the signs even as they became more prevalent. The events occurring on my peripheral vision didn’t feel threatening, and it didn’t take too long before I was acclimated to these things as a regular way of my life. Of course, I know now that all of these things meant that I was sensitive to the going-ons on the other side of the veil. I was at least somewhat conscious of the beings that existed in our world that didn’t truly belong here.

  My teenage years began just the way that they should have and were nothing extraordinary. I had an active social circle, got good grades, and was involved in extracurricular activities. My closest friend lived next door, and she and I slept over at each other’s houses at every opportunity. There was little about me that Joanna didn’t know. I never told her about the other things that swirled around me. It didn’t seem relevant or prudent, and selfishly I thought that it was like my own little secret. It was something that marked me as special. I felt a profound certainty that this ability would guide me in my adult life to my true purpose. In the meantime, I was in no hurry. Boys, clothes, and hanging out with my friends was all I cared about.

  As I explained all of this to the small group gathered in my convent’s sitting room, I could see by Riley’s expression that he didn’t believe me. He had never experienced any interaction with me that I would call care-free by any means. I learned discipline, control and maintaining a certain level of detachment because I had to, and those things along with my life’s decisions led to a seriousness that never left me. How could it not? I have chosen a path that took my children out of my life. That was a decision that I would settle up with God when the time came, and, in the meantime, I wouldn’t apologize for it. I had done what I felt was necessary.