by Kim Faulks
Tears slipped around her fingers.
“Do you want to come home?”
My head dipped as I nodded.
“Then close your eyes.”
I hesitated for a second and then dropped my lids.
“Close your eyes to the darkness, and the false. Close your eyes to the misguided and the lost.”
She dropped her hand to cup the nape of my neck and pulled. I curled my spine under the pressure as her lips found my forehead. Darkness descended and swallowed me whole.
I wrenched open my eyes to…nothing. “Wait.” I clawed the air. “Wait!”
There was no movement, no sense of my body. My hands trembled; nails scraped my cheek and hit my lips. My heart thundered, filling my ears with the raw, sickening sound. “I changed my mi—”
The words died as the darkness pulsed, giving birth to a faint outline in front of me. I moved my hand and the blur followed. Hope took flight, and the light brightened. I turned and searched the dim. There was no light, no torch—no fire.
I looked down to my chest and felt the rush. The glimmering glow came from me, from my chest, from my heart.
Do you want to pass?
A sob tore free. I dragged my hand to my breast and probed my skin. “How?”
My question fell away into nothing. For that was where I stood.
My fingers dug deeper, pressing flesh into bone as the Dragon filled my mind.
He lowered his massive head to pierce me with an emerald gaze.
“You,” I murmured.
Me, he answered inside my mind as though I spoke to him there.
And suddenly I understood. The healing of my wounds, the longing for something not of my world, the comfort in the darkest of nights—it was all him…the Saint.
He was my light in the darkness.
My strength when I was weak.
He was my healer, my lover, my protector—my savior.
“You left your light inside me?”
His massive head dropped into a nod. White light flared through the carvings around his eyes. The green bled to fluorescent white. Open your eyes, Angel.
I raised my hand to the glare.
Open your eyes.
My lids cracked open and the world rushed in. I blinked and stared at the corner of the building. A yellow glow danced on the pavement at my feet. My heart beat with a deafening boom. I glanced down to my fist nestled between my breasts. The slick feel of glass was nestled in my grip.
I turned over my hand and opened my fingers. The blood was so dark it looked black, sloshing in my hand. I reached for the glass.
Do you recognize my blood? The old woman whispered inside my head. It’s the same blood that runs through your veins—and Joslyn’s.
Her blood. I closed my fingers around the vial. Her blood. My breaths came hard and fast. I turned, stumbled for the driver’s side door of my car. I knew what needed to be done now.
I wrenched open the door and slipped inside. Divine guidance stole the tremble from my fingers. I speared my fingers through the neckline of my shirt and placed the vial inside my bra and close to my heart. The engine started with a grunt. White smoke billowed out in the rearview mirror. I shoved the car into gear and surged forward.
The empty streets fell away as I headed home, and with every turn, my focus was drawn to the vial against my breast.
I didn’t need a test to prove she was family—how far back that line ran, I didn’t know. Headlights cut through the damaged hedge. I braked, spun the wheel and hit the driveway, cutting along the side of the clinic to the back.
The vial moved, pressing into the top of my breast as I climbed from the car and shoved the door. I never stopped, never slowed, mounting the stairs, and headed for the hallway between my house and the lab.
There was no panic, no pleas. Nothing but my movements as I shoved through the door and turned left.
Maggie lifted her head from the nurses’ station as I neared. “Angel, I was going to ask—”
“Not now,” I answered. “It’ll have to wait.”
Everything had to wait. I punched through the door to the staff lounge and cut across the kitchen. I plucked the vial from my bra and sat at the desk. I worked without worry or thought, grabbing a syringe and piercing the stopper.
I dropped the blood into a vial, leaning forward to open the centrifuge and place the phial inside before adjusting the parameters and hitting the button.
A slow whir filled the air, before the speed picked up, turning the pitch jet engine high, and dividing plasma and cells. The machine slowed, I waited for the last spin before I yanked the vial free.
“You’re the one, aren’t you?” I whispered, and pulled the red blood cells free.
The movements blurred. I bypassed the gene editing machines, leaving behind everything I knew for the one thing I didn’t.
The machines ran the cycle. I sat back in the chair and stared at the screen, waiting for the cycle to run, until one beep cut through the air.
First data.
I clenched my fist, stilling the tremble, as the second beep came.
Second data.
For a second I didn’t want to know, until the panic passed, and the third beep stilled my fear.
Third data.
My breath left in a shudder, I shoved my fist toward the mouse and pressed the button. The screen came to life. Different tests, different views. I watched the cells divide, and divide, and divide, and I released my grip.
Slow tears came, sliding down my cheeks. The old woman stole my sight so I could see…and now I finally saw.
Seconds passed as I watched the screen and wept. I leaned forward, yanked open my drawer and probed the underside of the desk. My fingers skimmed the slip of paper, buckling the edges. I gauged the tape, tearing it loose and pulled the hidden note free.
The scrawl was elegant and precise. I grabbed my phone pressed the numbers. The phone rang once before it was answered. “Yes.”
My pulse was deafening as I spoke. “I have what you want. I’ll be waiting.”
18
Michael
I leaned closer, scanned the Vamp up and down. “Are you one of the bad guys?”
The corner of his lip curled. Fangs shone neon white as he answered. “It depends on who you ask.”
He dragged his gaze high, meeting mine. There was something I liked about the bloodsucker, something honorable. Headlights cut through the night. Tires crunched on gravel tearing along the side of the clinic.
The Vamp moved in a blur, diving behind what was left of the hedge as I took cover.
“What the…?” I growled catching sight of the driver as they hit the road and turned.
Angel had been hunched over the steering wheel. Her gaze firmly fixed on the road ahead. The hair on the back of my neck rose. An air of desperation floated behind her. I looked to my car.
“Now you're just being creepy, Guardian. Standing outside her window, following her through the streets. Kinda needy isn’t it?”
I whipped my head toward the undead as my wings flattened alongside my spine. “And here I was just starting to like you.”
He didn’t hide the smirk, goddamn smug bastard. Instead he slapped a hand to his chest and screeched. “I’m not worthy.”
I left the Vampire with his theatrics and glanced to the Jeep. Instinct screamed to follow her, but the Vamp’s words rubbed me raw. I wasn’t that man, the one who hides, and follows—the one who didn’t trust.
Her taillights glowed red as the car braked, then sped off in the opposite direction. I could still catch her—to make sure she was—
“So…”
My lips curled as I found him in the dark.
“Fancy meeting you on a night like this…or any night for that matter,” he muttered and gave me a sideways glance. “Heard you were long gone, Guardian.”
“Then you heard wrong.”
He gave a nod and turned to glance at the clinic. His voice softened and deepened. “How is
she?”
“She is keeping secrets,” I growled and stared at the undead. “She is the damn reason I attacked you.”
The streetlights slowly buzzed.
A car crept along the street.
The night ticked by. One…second…at…a…time.
Gabriel lifted his head and met my gaze.
He’d risked his life to save hers…
So what were his intentions?
The memory of that dark cabin reared. I could still see her, trapped underneath this Vampire. Her breaths barely there, so close to mortal death.
His gaze narrowed. “You have something to ask me, Guardian?”
“I held her in my arms, saw her injuries.”
His breath caught as though he knew what was coming. One slow nod gave me cause to continue.
“You did that? You…shackled her?”
Fear glinted in his eyes. He knew what was coming. He straightened his spine. “We couldn’t risk her trying to escape.”
I took a step, circling behind the undead as rage filled me. “All those Vampires and you were worried about one mortal woman?”
He flinched but never moved. I’d tear him apart for giving the order. The thick raised wounds around her ankle made me ashamed to be a man.
“It wasn’t for our safety, Guardian, only hers. If she ran. If I lost sight of her—I’d never be able to…”
Protect her.
The words hung in the air, and the scene played out. She’d fight them every step of the way. She’d take the babies and run—and they’d have no choice but to chase her…
I flanked his side, watching for every flinch, listening for every inflection in his answers. “And you’ve no idea who’s been here?”
He turned his head toward me and stared at the ground. “For the tenth time, no.”
“So, then, what do we do now?”
Dirt scuffed as he faced me. “We wait for them to return.”
So we waited while the streetlights dimmed and surged.
We waited while cars crept along the street, until one slowed and turned into the drive.
Doc’s small silver car slipped along the side of the clinic. Red brake lights flashed as she pulled up at the back, and the slam of a car door rocked the night. I glanced at the Vampire.
His empty expression gave nothing away as the thud of a back door followed. Could he scent another of his kind like a wolf, or did we wait?
He never moved, only stared into nothing, and as the seconds ticked by I realized this had been his answer. The scent of midnight trickled into the air, caught on an icy breeze.
Hours slipped by in stony silence. Night after night I’d waited alone, with no end in sight—but somehow this had now changed. I had somehow become a we, and even though I needed no protection, the company was welcome.
Gabriel stiffened, whipped his gaze right and snarled. “Guardian.”
Something moved through the night. Black on black melted together, but I could sense the undead—and so could the Vampire at my side. I closed my eyes and dragged in the air, and there it was—the sickening scent of blood, lingering like a vile disease. “That’s him. That’s the same one.”
A guttural growl slipped from Gabriel’s lips. He went from stony silence, to lunging through the air in the space of a heartbeat. I tracked the silver glow of his skin and drove my body after him.
A hard brunt severed the night, followed by the sound of fists on flesh. I rounded the side of the medical center to see Gabriel staring down at a darkened blur on the ground. The undead warrior swiped his mouth with his fingers as I neared.
Blood glistened on the tips. He stared at the glistening drop and snarled. “I’ll ask you once, what are you doing here?”
There was no answer. Anger seethed along the surface of my mind, each lick of fire flared deeper. I kicked the undead’s foot. “Answer.”
White fangs glinted with a smirk as the sonofabitch answered. “Fuck you.”
Fuck me? That lick of fire burned all the way down.
“Sounds fair,” Gabriel murmured and lifted his head to me. “Torture?”
“Torture,” I whispered, “sounds incredible.”
Gabriel took a step and fear splashed across the undead’s face—not panicked in the face of uncertainty, but truly fucking terrified.
And for the first time a thought crossed my mind, Who was this Vampire’s ally?
“I know just the place,” Gabriel murmured, holding the undead’s gaze. “You and I are going to have so much fun.”
The undead kicked dirt and skidded away as the warrior bent down, grasped his black shirt and hauled the Vampire to his feet. The glow from the streetlight barely touched him, but it was enough to see the piece of shit.
His black eyes were rimmed with orange, midnight hair fell mid-way along his neck. There was something uncharacteristic about him, as though his pale skin, brooding stare, and blood red lips looked the same as every bloodsucker—I lifted my gaze to Gabriel—except him.
The warrior stood out from all the rest, perfectly brutal—honed and honest. God. Don’t tell me I was starting to like him. His blonde hair slipped as he raised his gaze to meet mine.
And a cold, unforgiving pact was made.
We’d not stop, not where the doctor was concerned.
A naked bulb flickered overhead, casting a dull yellow hue around the room. A deafening boom tore through the space as the steel door slammed shut, locking us in.
This underground lair stank of sex and blood. I eyed the workbench and caught the glint of stainless steel. Handcuffs hung from the edge of a corner. What the Hell kind of place did this Vampire bring us to?
Gabriel turned, speared me with a wicked gaze and shoved the Vampire free. “Ready to talk now?”
The undead stumbled, righted himself and then straightened.
The bitter tang of rust settled on my tongue. I turned my head, taking in this bunker. The rickety elevator took us two floors underground where the sun didn’t reach.
The move spoke volumes.
We had all the time in the fucking world.
“What do you want with the doctor?”
I turned to the silent prisoner, finding his frozen gaze.
“I love it when they act tough,” Gabriel murmured and took a step. “They start off that way—but they all still scream in the end.”
Goosebumps raced across my skin as he raked blond strands from his face and smiled. “What are your intentions at the Angel House?”
“Fuck you, assassin.”
Gabriel’s smirk widened. He gave a slow nod as my knuckles popped under the strain. I wanted to grab this tight-lipped piece of shit and pry the answers from his cold, dead lips. I wanted to beat him, and keep beating him until there was nothing but a whisper left.
The first lash of light stung, searing through my veins, sending the white glow through my skin. I clenched my fist, riding the stab of agony with a shuddered breath.
“It’s good you know who I am.” Gabriel took one more step, stopping an arm’s length away. “It saves time on introductions. But I wonder if you’re familiar with my good friend here?” He turned his head, taking in the glow.
I raised my head, meeting the warrior’s focus. His eyes widened and the whites seemed to glisten. If our undead prisoner was terrified of him, then he was fucking petrified…of me.
“Guardian,” Gabriel muttered, his voice deep and strange. “Care to introduce yourself?”
Lightning ripped through my chest, stealing my words—for it wasn’t me the Vampire needed to see.
It was the Saint.
Agony sliced and twisted, bowing my spine until my heels left the floor. Light hacked and clawed through my chest, spilling out of this body like a ruptured vein.
“No.” The hiss slipped between my clenched teeth. I slammed my eyes closed and fought for control. But it was far too late. The Saint rose to the surface shredding skin, snapping bone.
My wings carved the air as my bod
y shuddered and shook.
I couldn’t hold on. I was losing, slipping. I was… “Stop.”
Never! The word savaged my mind.
A sickening crunch followed as the Saint consumed flesh and blood. The force threw me forwards. My palms hit the ground and my body followed. Light spilled all around me, filling every crack in this underground tomb.
“Christ!” Gabriel screamed and threw his hand in front of his eyes.
I clawed the air in a feeble attempt to protect him.
But I couldn’t help him.
I couldn’t even help myself.
A quake raced, stealing the ground from under my feet, until with a roar the Saint pushed through. Light cleaved me down the middle. Our prisoner scrambled backwards as claws pushed through the glare.
Pain dulled, stealing the rage, but I knew it wasn’t because the Saint changed his mind. It was because he wanted to be free. He wanted blood. He wanted destruction—he wanted it all because of one woman…one…human.
The hold on my body slipped as Angel’s face filled my mind.
Claws and light swallowed the space. Gabriel craned his head, following the motion as I pushed, and pushed and pushed. My tail tore free, and my wings followed. Gabriel dove for cover as talons speared the ground inches from his feet.
Spines punctured the skin along my spine. An unseen knife etched an ichor trail around my eye and down my cheek. There was no escaping the blinding glow as the dark hole in the ground turned brighter.
The stench of piss wafted to the surface. I swung my head, following the faint trail and cast my wings out wide. Dirt and soot rained down as they slammed into the walls. This underground world thundered. Nothing could contain him—not the blackest of night—not the earth itself.
I sucked in a breath and felt his monstrous lungs expand. Fire dwelled hot, reaching up with hungry tongues, ready to unleash and incinerate the world.
Gabriel cleared his throat, drawing my focus. I swung my head to the Vampire and caught the flinch.
Friend. I cast the word out wide and hoped the Saint understood.
He’s our friend. He’s here to protect the doctor—don’t hurt him.