Fallen Five

by Erica Spindler

  She gazed into those blue eyes, and for the first time since the night she’d put her little hand in that big one, she wholly trusted another human being.

  “Thank you,” she whispered and lifted her face to his. He lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was deep, tender, and full of unspoken promises. Ones of loyalty, honesty, and commitment.

  This man would not let her fall.

  Colored light cascaded over them, like a slowly turning kaleidoscope. It took a moment for it to register; he became aware of it at that same moment that she did.

  They lifted their faces to the stained-glass window. It was as if the watchful angels had come to life, hovering outside the circle of richly tinted glass.

  The color gave way to iridescent light, flowing through the window, unfolding, taking shape. Dazzling white. Almost too brilliant to contemplate.

  A figure emerged from a cocoon. Wings, she realized, unfurling. The light met the floor and transformed.

  Professor Truebell stood before them, grinning like a naughty little boy caught doing something he knew he shouldn’t have been.

  Before either of them could say a word, Parker rapped on the door, then stuck his head in. Unlike her and Zach, he didn’t seem at all surprised to see Truebell.

  “Hey, Professor, glad you’re back. You two—” He looked at Micki, then Zach. “I have news. Downstairs. Now.”

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  10:10 P.M.

  Zach parked in front of the abandoned warehouse. Micki looked at him and nodded. They climbed out of the car, slamming their doors in unison.

  Parker had gotten a call from one of his people. Anthony Bremmond, aka Keith Gerard, had been found. Unfortunately, he was dead. Parker had sent them to ID Bremmond and search the scene.

  Micki didn’t know what to think, let alone hope for. If Bremmond was dead, did that mean Angel had escaped? Or that he’d been double-crossed by the Dark Bearers he’d hoped to negotiate with?

  Zach handed her a flashlight. She flipped it on. He did the same with his. They fell into step together, slipping through the sliver of open door. Cavernous, derelict, a fire waiting to happen. They could make out one damaged shipping container toward the back of the structure.

  And a lone figure, sprawled, lifeless nearby. Without speaking, they crossed to him. Male, she saw. She bent to get a look at his face.

  “Oh, shit,” she muttered, stomach heaving, something that hadn’t happened to her in years.

  Zach followed her lead. “Crap,” he said. “They plucked his eyes out.”

  “Or pecked them out,” Micki said. “Take a look at this.” She shone her light over the floor around the victim. “Feathers.”

  Zach squatted down to examine them closely. “Two different birds. Some of the feathers are black.”

  “Like a crow’s?”

  He nodded. “And some are two-tone.” He looked up at her. “Got some gloves?”

  She handed him a pair and evidence bags. “By the way,” she said and stood, “it’s him.”

  “Well, I guess he won’t be back to save his big sister.” He collected a couple of each and sealed the bags. “I’m going to take a few pictures for Parker.”

  Micki pointed toward the shipping container. “I’ll take a look over here.”

  She crossed to it, noting that one end was badly—and oddly—damaged, as if the right corner had been violently wrenched apart at the seams. She pointed the flashlight up. Same for the container’s top.

  She slipped though the opening and stopped. Moving her flashlight beam over the interior, she caught her breath. A cot and a table. Food and water. A camping light and a blanket. And on the far wall, a drawing that couldn’t have been done by anyone other than Angel.

  “Zach!” she shouted, sticking her head out the opening. “I found something!”

  Moments later, he joined her in front of the drawing. “She was here,” Micki said. “We know that for sure.”

  “So what happened?”

  Micki studied the drawing, a knot in her throat. “I think that happened.”

  “What?”

  With her flashlight beam, she traced the white in the drawing, from the female figure, through the wall and around the male figure, then back. “They broke her out of here. Together. They used their light, the way I used Hank’s against Isabella.”

  “And look,” Zach said, pointing his flashlight. “In the drawing. That’s no crow.”

  “A hawk,” she murmured. “Or some other bird of prey.”

  “We’ll know for sure by the feathers.”

  “Yes.” Micki looked up at him, the words she was about to say already bittersweet on her tongue. “Angel always said he’d be back for her. And that he loved her. Looks like she was right.”

  Chapter Sixty

  Saturday, February 17

  12:30 A.M.

  By the time she and Zach arrived back at LAM, Micki was dead on her feet. They’d called ahead and shared everything they’d learned; as far as she was concerned, there was nothing left to say. Angel was gone. She had left with the man she loved, and now all Micki could do was pray Angel had made the right decision.

  A beer and bed, Micki decided. Her new goals in life.

  “I have good news,” Parker said, from the top of the stairs. “Considering the circumstances, the High Council has agreed to also release Eli. Professor Truebell and I delivered Isabella to them while you were gone.”

  Micki looked at Zach. He looked as confused as she. “You delivered her? To the High Council? Already?”

  The professor joined Parker. “The portal works both ways. Eli’s right behind me.”

  Micki shook her head. Portals, necklaces imbued with superpowers, and humans metamorphosing into birds or whatever the hell else they desired to be? If she wasn’t so fricking tired, she’d be completely freaked out.

  As if cued, Eli emerged from the professor’s office. The three men started down, all smiling from ear to ear.

  Micki watched, a lump in her throat. How could she have been fooled by the chameleon’s versions of Eli and the professor? Sure, they’d looked the same; Eli’s strong features and startlingly light blue eyes, the professor’s elfin, bearded face and compact stature, but without the light that emanated from them like an invisible force field.

  She’d been fooled because she had wanted to be. Exactly what the chameleon counted on.

  She hugged Eli. “I’m so glad you’re back.”

  “I’m proud of you,” he whispered in her ear, then held her at arm’s length. “Not too worse for wear, I see.”

  She laughed. “Then you better get some glasses.”

  Arianna came from the kitchen with a tray of sandwiches. “Who’s hungry?”

  They all were and followed Arianna into the conference room. The room went silent for several minutes, as everyone helped themselves to the food and drink.

  Micki broke the silence first. “What’s going to happen to the chameleon?”

  “Now that the High Council has her in custody, they’ll convince her to turn. Or she’s going to spend the rest of her life incarcerated in the light. A pretty uncomfortable prospect for someone like her.”

  “Turn?” Micki said, taking another bite of her sandwich.

  “Chameleons have a strong instinct for self-preservation. They’ll do whatever is necessary to survive.”

  “They would actually trust her?” Micki arched her eyebrows in disbelief. “No way, not ever.”

  “I certainly understand your feeling that way,” Professor Truebell said. “I assure you, it’s not instantaneous. It’s a long, arduous process, but in the end the Light can be surprisingly persuasive. Especially with such self-serving creatures. And now that she’s been dispatched, there’s something we need to discuss. Parker?”

  He nodded and began, “As you both know, Professor Truebell and Eli were arrested by the High Council and charged with treason.”

  “You mentioned a spy within our network,” Zach said. />
  “Yes, but not only do we know the spy’s identity, we’ve known all along.”

  “It’s me,” Arianna said. “I was sent by High Council to observe the activities here at LAM and report back to them.” She curved her hand around Zach’s. “I’m sorry I kept it from you. I had to.”

  Micki saw that Zach was having a hard time processing the information, so she stepped in. “You’re saying you’re some kind of double agent?”

  Arianna’s lips lifted in a small smile. “I guess you could call me that. The High Council believes my allegiance is to them. Which it is, in a way. I believe in the survival of our race and that we need a governing body. But my first allegiance is to the Light, and abundant life for all creatures that share this planet. The work we’re doing here is in service to that cause.”

  “She told us the moment it was safe for her to do so.” Parker sent an appreciative nod in his sister’s direction. “We’ve been working together ever since.”

  Micki made a sound of surprise. “But you turned Eli and the professor in? I don’t understand.”

  Professor Truebell took over. “Arianna fed the High Council damning information on LAM’s activities. But it was information I asked her to feed them.”

  “Wait. ” Micki moved her gaze between. “Were you, or weren’t you, charged with treason?”

  The professor looked practically gleeful. “Let me start from the beginning. The High Council had been suspicious of our activities for some time, but Eli and I had continued to convince them that our work here was simply humanitarian.

  “But you and Zach changed that.” He smiled at Micki. “Your . . . achievements drew their attention. Then, in a raid on a Dark Bearer compound, they rescued Arianna. They promised to drop all charges against her if she agreed to be their eyes and ears here at LAM.”

  “Charges against her,” Zach repeated, dropping his hands to his lap, curling them into fists. “You’re telling us that she endured the horror of captivity at a breeding compound for all these years, but they still would have charged her for falling in love with my father?”

  “In the end, would they have?” Professor Truebell shrugged. “I don’t know. But they had it to hold over her.”

  “And they call themselves the good guys? Bastards.”

  “Son,” Arianna said softly, reaching over and stroking his arm, “it’s done. Yes, every one of those days imprisoned there was hell, but I brought hope to a place that otherwise would have none. I was the light for souls bereft of it. Because of that, how could I wish to change any of it?”

  The table went silent. It seemed to Micki that even breathing stopped. And in that instant, she realized what a truly remarkable being Zach’s mother was.

  Her medal warmed. She brought her hand to it and smiled to herself. Hank was here with them, and he agreed. She looked at Arianna, then at Zach. She tilted her head. There was something about Zach’s smile that reminded her of Hank. She wondered why she’d never noticed it before?

  Professor Truebell returned to his story, as if a stunningly emotional moment hadn’t just happened. “We knew we would be summoned and charged with treason, maybe sooner than later. We felt the time was right to sway the Council, so we orchestrated the information Arianna brought them, focusing on your feats, Zach. And on Angel’s. Your courage and accomplishments, how you’ve used your gifts against the Dark One and his army. They can’t dismiss Half Lights anymore.”

  Micki cleared her throat. “Hold on, Professor. Sway the council, you said. Are we working with them now?”

  “I call it an uneasy collaboration. Any last questions?” Truebell looked around the table. “It’s late and I, for one, am exhausted.”

  “Just one,” Zach said, turning to Arianna. “Why didn’t you tell me the truth? When all this was going down? You didn’t trust me enough?”

  “That’s not it, not at all. With the chameleon causing havoc in our circle, I couldn’t trust that she wouldn’t get the information and go to the council with it. Not only would I have been arrested, but neither Professor Truebell nor Eli would be sitting here right now.”

  Micki could see that Zach didn’t like it, but he knew she was right. All it would have taken was shaking the wrong hand, or a clap on the back from someone he thought he knew.

  Zach looked at Arianna. “Isabella must have imprinted you, too. How else could she have learned you turned the professor and Eli in?”

  “She must have,” Arianna agreed.

  “So, how come she didn’t know the whole story?” Micki asked.

  “I locked it.”

  Micki arched an eyebrow. “Locked it? Like you put in a safe?”

  “That or a chest, a bank vault or jewelry box. Every Lightkeeper visualizes their own safe box. We’re taught how to do it as children, and become adept at it when we come into our full powers.”

  Micki pursed her lips. “Sounds a little sketchy to me.”

  “I suppose it does.” She laughed. “But when you grow up in a society that communicates telepathically, you have to learn what’s private and what’s not. It’s acceptable to have thoughts you don’t want others to know. Not all secrets are bad.”

  Professor Truebell stood. “I suggest we end on that for tonight. Tomorrow will be a better day.”

  For them, Micki thought, standing. For her, she wasn’t so hopeful. Yes, they’d caught the chameleon. But the damage to her career had been done. Her suspension from the force would become a dismissal, and she would never work in law enforcement again. Natalie King’s disappearance would warrant an investigation of foul play—and unhinged Detective Mad Dog Dare would be the prime suspect.

  Yes, she was grateful to be alive and so very thankful those she cared for were unhurt, but the chameleon could claim a partial victory over her anyway. Being a cop, that’s who she was. Her identity. The NOPD was her family. The chameleon had taken that away from her.

  As she was exiting, Professor Truebell stopped her. He gave her a hug, then held her at arm’s length. “The High Council will take care of everything, Michaela. Tomorrow really will be a better day.”

  Chapter Sixty-one

  Saturday, November 18

  11:50 A.M.

  Micki awakened to the smell of coffee. She stretched languorously, taking a moment to enjoy the warmth of the bed and the silkiness of the sheets against her bare legs. Only then did she open her eyes.

  Zach stood in her bedroom doorway, a mug of steaming coffee in his hands. His feet were bare, his T-shirt rumpled, and he sported a serious case of bedhead.

  How could the man still look so damn good?

  She sat up, pushing the hair away from her face. “I hope that coffee’s for me.”

  “Of course it is.” He brought it to her, then sat on the edge of the bed.

  She took a sip, made a sound of appreciation, then took another sip. “How was the couch?”

  “Lumpy. How was the bed?”

  Lonely. She pushed the thought away. “Very comfortable, thanks.”

  The knowing way he smiled made her wonder if he’d read her mind. Maybe she needed one of those mental lock-boxes? Or maybe just him off the bed and standing on the other side of the room? Or even in the kitchen?

  She decided on small talk. “What time is it?”

  “Almost noon.”

  She almost choked on the coffee. “Noon?”

  “You were tired. Give yourself a break.”

  He was being way too sweet. And he smelled good. She sipped again, irritated with herself. “How long have you been up?”

  “Couple hours.”

  She drew her eyebrows together. “I suppose, seeing I’m unemployed, it doesn’t matter how long I sleep. What’s your excuse?”

  “Personal day.”

  He reached over and tucked a tendril of her hair behind her ear. For the space of a heartbeat, she couldn’t breathe.

  “And about that whole unemployed thing—”

  She looked at him over the rim of the cup. “Ye
ah?”

  “You missed a news conference this morning. I figured you’d want to see it.” He took the coffee cup and handed her his phone. “It’s cued up and ready.”

  “Can I please have my coffee back? I’m a big girl. I promise I can handle a cell phone and coffee mug without spilling.”

  “Don’t be such a grouch.” He took a sip of the brew. “Besides, in this case, I’m not so sure you can.”

  She hesitated and he grinned. “Just hit the play button. You’ll see.”

  She did and practically launched out of the bed—Natalie King, standing at a podium in front of 2 River Tower and Hotel’s main entrance.

  “How’d she do it? How’d she get away—”

  “Just wait. And listen.”

  “ . . . and after a lot of thought and prayer—”

  “Prayer? Her? Not possible—”

  “ . . . reflecting on the loss of my dear Thomas, the love of my life—”

  “I’m going to vomit, Zach. I swear to God—”

  “ . . . I owe the NOPD, and particularly Detective Michaela Dare, an apology.”

  “Wait! What?” Micki hit the pause button and looked up at Zach. He was grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Is this for real?”

  “It is. And there’s more.” He reached over and hit play for her.

  “I made false claims against her and the police department. I see now that I was acting out of grief and despair, and I deeply regret my actions. And I apologize. Detective Dare, indeed, everyone within the NOPD acted with the upmost efficiency and professionalism. New Orleans should be proud.

  “As a way to make amends,” she went on, “I’m donating Thomas’s life insurance benefit, the entire five million dollars, to the New Orleans Police and Justice Foundation.”

  The press conference ended moments later, and Micki handed him his phone. “Oh, my God. Did that really just happen?”

  His lips twitched. “It did.”

  “How the hell did the High Council get Isabella to turn so quickly?”

  “They didn’t. Apparently, they have their own chameleons.”

  “Their own . . .” She let the thought trail off. Of course. Arianna had said some Lightkeepers were born with the gift of transformation, and that not all of them went bad.