A Slither of Hope

by Lisa M Basso

  “We’re outside.”

  “Can we just go?”

  Kade cursed, and the unmistakable sound of his wings jerking open made me jump.

  “What?” I turned my attention to the street, looking down the long stretch of concrete and windows, thirteen stories to the ground floor. In the tick of a second, Kade was behind me, lifting me onto the ledge of the balcony. I gripped the inside edge of the railing. “Uh, what’s going on?”

  “Someone’s coming.”

  “So that means throwing me off a balcony?” One look down from this angle split my stomach open.

  “Someone like me.” His fingers dug into my hips as his words pierced through my new-found fear of heights.

  “Fallen?” I croaked out, twisting to look at him rather than the huge drop-off. The answer lay in his eyes, in the way darkness crept outward from his pupils like tiny branches reaching to invade the white. “How close?”

  Another Fallen. Oh crap. Crap. Azriel. It could be Az, crawling out from Hell to come for me again. Or worse, to get his nasty claws on Lee, Dad, or Laylah.

  “Rayna, he’s close. In the building.”

  “Aren’t you supposed to be able to feel them before they get that close?”

  “I was…distracted.”

  Great, I couldn’t even argue with him anymore because it meant Fallen could creep up on us. “Well good job on that. So what’s the plan?”

  “I need you to open your wings and jump.”

  “Jump? Are you nuts?” I tried to keep my voice at a whisper, but at his suggestion it rose to birthing-a-calf status.

  “They’ll be able to feel me. Right now, you’ll be safer on your own. We’ll meet up at the apartment. Unless you see someone there or it doesn’t feel right. Then we’ll meet at point two.” Mentally winding through Kade’s glossary of safe places, I realized he was talking about AT&T Park, where the Giants play during baseball season. “And don’t give me that look. This is what we’ve been training for.” His dark eyes pierced into me.

  With his help I steadied myself on the railing and looked down. Big mistake. He released me, his hands hovering an inch off my body. I held my arms out for balance. When I failed, I clamped his hands back on my hips, holding them there with white knuckles. “But we never talked about separating.”

  “Because I didn’t want to worry you. We always knew it was a possibility.” He slid one hand away, having to fight my death grip. I remained clamped on to the other, closing my eyes. “You have wings. And you don’t even have to fly. Soaring’s easy. Just open them against the wind and ride the current down.”

  “No. I can’t.” My legs shook from hip to ankle. Plus, my feet weren’t doing so well, either.

  He pressed his body against the backs of my legs. “You have to.”

  I opened my eyes, testing my bravery. “But…I don’t—”

  Kade yanked his hand away and shoved me off the balcony. My shoes squeaked against the top of the railing as they left solid ground. Wind rushed against my face. I covered my eyes and stretched my wings open, waiting for the wind to shift under me, or instinct to take over, or for my descent to slow. None of that happened. I was falling like a brick from the sky and my small wings were too weak to hold my weight.

  “Kade!” I cried, peeking through my fingers, preparing to see the ground just before the fleshy splat I’d make on someone’s car.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Rayna

  Air rushed past me, drowning out everything but my thoughts. I released my hands and tried to flap my wings, working my arms and shoulders. Fatigue burned through my muscles, old and new. Nothing. I continued to sail like a rock toward the concrete.

  The wind ripped the wig from my head, the pins tearing my hair beneath. The pit of my stomach disappeared. Gone. Abandoned somewhere up near the twelfth floor. My eyes stung and watered, even through closed lids. With my arms crossed in front of my face, I fought to accept my fate, not doing such a stellar job considering I probably had about ten seconds of life left.

  An arm wrapped around my chest. Another clung to my stomach. The chill from the wind subsided a bit. The familiar sound of wings catching in the air slowed our descent. I opened my eyes. Immediately mint and soap and leather replaced the absence of scent during the fall. With what little I could move, I reinforced Kade’s arms and held on tight. I turned my head and planted a big fat kiss on the sleeve of his leather jacket. “I’ve never been so glad to see you.”

  His fingers tensed before he spoke, “That should’ve worked. You did everything right.”

  “At least we know I can’t fly.”

  He tilted, easing his wings to the right, veering us between buildings, and littering the tiny pieces of my stomach left clear across the city. “Your wings must be too small. I should have known. But why do you have them if you can’t use them?”

  To avoid wincing every time we narrowly grazed a building, I angled my head toward him. “Is that really what you’re worried about right now?”

  “There has to be a reason for them. If they weren’t meant to fly…uh-oh.”

  “Uh-oh? What uh-oh?” I squirmed against his hold. Not the wisest move several stories in the air.

  Kade’s grip remained tight, a safety net, something he’d been for me since the beginning. Damn those arms and my always needing them.

  “I can see your wings. The angels can see them. But they’re too small to fly with. The only purpose they serve is as a big foam finger to point you out to both sides.”

  Despite the fifty-something-degree wind blasting my face, I hung my head. And growled. “Wonder-freaking-ful. But now might be a good time to fly us out of here. If there’s a Fallen around I really don’t think we want him on our tail.”

  “Yeah, about that. I can’t really fly anymore. I must have reached my limit that night Azriel snapped my wing.”

  The night he and Cam pulled me back from Hell. The night I gave them hell for doing it. “Well, being sixty feet off the ground is a great place to hear that news! Since we’re being honest up here, something weird kind of happened earlier.”

  “Other than what you already mentioned?”

  “Yeah, it was a little more seri—”

  A sleek black patch below us stunned me into silence. “Uh, Kade?”

  “I feel them.”

  “Then why didn’t you go around—wait, them?” I looked again, squinting against the wind tangling my lashes. The glossy black wings looked especially big from up here. That must have been because several sets were bunched together. At least four Fallen were walking on the street below us. My nails dug into Kade’s skin as we silently floated past them. My heart hammered in my throat, beating in time to the rhythm of gut-wrenching fear.

  “I’m going to try setting us down on a rooftop.” His breath warmed my ear and cheek.

  In spite of the fear rolling through me like so much thunder, I released my hold on his arm and readied as he drew his wings tighter, and we dipped lower.

  We came in fast, too fast. By the time we were over the roof of the building, half of it had already disappeared behind us. Kade dipped us down, catching me off guard. My shoes skidded on the tar and gravel roof, momentum shooting me forward like sharpened skates on smooth ice. I tripped forward, somehow miraculously managing to stay on my feet. Kade released me, tucked his wings in, and barreled through the air right over my head. He crash-landed and rolled to the end of the roof. Still moving, he flipped heels-over-head and disappeared over the lip.

  “Kade!”

  I rushed to the edge of the roof, sliding to the ledge on my stomach. Loose rocks caught on my jacket and scraped my skin raw. Kade smiled up at me from the fire escape. The joyful twist in his lips was a refreshing sight.

  “Ugh. Jerk.” I said the words without feeling them, my lips pulling up, my chest lighter. Half-hysterical laughter bubbled up in me and I gripped the edge and kicked my foot as I let myself go for the first time in such a long time.

  Kade r
eached up and tugged my sleeve. “C’mon, Chuckles.” He tugged a disheveled ball of blond from the inside of his jacket and slapped it on my head.

  “Gee, thanks.” I tugged my wig into place, untangling it as best as I could without a mirror. Sure, I joked, but the damned thing bathed me in comfort. My disguise hardwired me with a certain degree of safety. Either that or Kade—

  “Get moving,” Kade said. “We do still have black wings on our tails.”

  We descended the fire escape to the street, gaining more than a few curious looks from the people on the sidewalk. A thread of music pulsed beneath my feet. The Warfield, a small but popular concert venue, stood to our left. Thick black letters announced the event; behind it the whiteboard shone out, faintly illuminating the concrete and the smokers banished outside in a shallow, dull glow.

  Kade threaded his fingers through mine and rushed us inside, firing pitch-black eyes at the ticket taker. The music surged with a lively beat. A heavy stream of bass boomed straight into my chest, impacting my heartbeat. It was the kind of erratic, exciting tone that would have been banned at the SS Crazy. An enticing mix of rock and electronica—electric guitars, drums, bass, and synthesized noises packed in the kind of rhythm that made you want to forget all your troubles and dance.

  Halfway through the hallway, Kade picked up his pace, pulling me along. He pushed through the double doors. The music and screaming fans erupted into view. The volume spiked, more than tripling. The colored lights from the stage drew my eyes there immediately. Five people were on stage, singing and moving with the music. It was one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen.

  Then Kade tugged and we were on the move again, barreling through a seemingly never-ending crowd until we reached the far end of the auditorium, where he threw back a thick, blood-red curtain and shoved me behind it. In the darkness, I grabbed for him and pulled him in with me.

  “Don’t think you’re just leaving me here.”

  Blue and green lights pulsed under the bottom of the curtain, which was a few inches too short to cover our feet. Our backs were pressed against the wall with the curtain dangling in our faces.

  “We need to split up,” said Kade. “They can feel me. They might not be able to feel you—I know I can’t.”

  “I’m not going to let you take all the risk to lead them away.”

  “No one asked for your opinion.”

  Great. What a wonderful time for us both to be stubborn asses. But despite his big words Kade didn’t leave. We waited through several songs, neither of us speaking or even moving. All the while, waiting for the seconds to tick away, for us to be discovered.

  My mind worked me over again and again. What would they do to us? My heart pulverized my chest cavity, beating my ribs to dust. Not all the symptoms had fear stapled to them, though. The flutters circling in my stomach were mutant butterflies the size of hawks. I doubted those birds of prey were all due to the Fallen following us.

  I squeezed Kade’s fingers between mine. “Today…” My voice waivered, half-hoarse, half-cracking. “Today with Cam—”

  “I know.”

  “No you don’t. It was a mistake, a huge—”

  “Ray.”

  The way he said my name stopped me. Even behind the dark curtain I could sense his eyes on me. “I know.”

  My cheeks flushed. Thank God it was dark in here.

  “Can you…still feel them?”

  “Yeah.”

  “How close do you think they are?”

  “It doesn’t work that way. It’s more an on-and-off switch than radar. Either we’re close enough to feel each other or we aren’t.”

  “How—how close? What’s the range?”

  “A block or two.”

  We had only gotten that far away from the first threat before we saw the larger group below. “So you never stopped feeling them, then.” The realization sank the pit of my stomach.

  The music was so loud I thought I imagined his answering sigh. His fingers curled around mine slowly, subtly, like ivy’s roots taking hold. Another song ended.

  “This is my first concert,” I said while I didn’t have to shout.

  He must not have heard me. No big deal. So then why did I have to swallow over a gumball-sized lump in my throat? My palm started to sweat inside his. So not cool.

  “I’m going to go check things out.” He pried his fingers away. “No matter what happens, you stay here, all right?” I opened my mouth to object, but as his rough hand cupped my chin, the words fell away. He didn’t wait for me to try again. There was a brief flash of multicolored light and his touch was gone.

  Great. Being alone in the dark was pretty high up on my things-that-freak-me-out list these days. Tiny tremors ran through me, reminding me just how much the sitting duck I was.

  The curtain moved—a small, but noticeable ripple. With my back flat against the wall, I angled myself and readied my fists the way Kade had taught me. As soon as the curtain flew open I lunged, knocking Kade halfway to the ground. He caught himself and me by backing into the person behind him. When we were stable, Kade lowered me to my feet and nodded to the guy behind him in apology.

  “You’re full of surprises,” he said with a grin. “But throwing yourself at someone isn’t really the best way to get them to not attack you.”

  I rolled my eyes and squirmed out of his grip. “What’s the plan?”

  “For now, we’re going to blend in with the crowd. Hiding behind a curtain isn’t any way to experience your first concert.”

  “You did hear me.” A breath of a smile drifted over my lips.

  He led us to the other side of the venue. We slid into the last row of the standing room area where people jumped and swayed like a living ocean. “Of course I did. I always do. Even when I don’t agree with what you say.”

  I rumpled my nose at his backhanded sweetness.

  The beat picked up and the lights burned red and orange, illuminating the stage with sparks and pyrotechnics. When the flames died down a huge light formation of a red devil lady flipped on and the crowd screamed. I stared at the twenty-foot neon diva and the response it garnered. It was the single strangest and most beautiful thing I’d seen in a long, long time. I closed my eyes for an instant, preparing to store the memory, needing it for whatever drama might come next, when Kade pressed up behind me, closing his arms around me. I opened my eyes and smiled back at him. The crowd pulsed around us, energy personified.

  A cloud of normal came over me in a way I’d never experienced before. This was something I could get used to. I ghosted my fingers over Kade’s.

  He leaned into me, his lips brushing my ear. I let my eyes drift closed and hoped. “Don’t freak out and don’t so much as stiffen, but someone’s here.”

  My normal cloud quivered, then exploded before my eyes. Freaking out was exactly what a normal person would do when told not to, and I was so far from normal these days I needed a telescope to see it. Kade’s thumb circling my shoulder helped me to keep moving with the music, even though I could barely hear it now over my own heartbeat. “Tuck your wings in tight and slip into the crowd when I move. Got it?”

  Pulling my focus toward the stage, I intensified my swaying and hooked my hand around his arm. “We aren’t splitting up.”

  “Not the time to argue. Do what I say.” He pressed closer. That was when I realized he wasn’t holding me because he wanted to or had lost himself in the moment the way I had, he was trying to hide my wings with his body.

  “How many?” I asked, with probably the worst forced smile on my lips.

  A loud cheer from the balcony carried over the band. Kade and I glanced over our shoulders at the same time; our muscles stiffened as one. A Fallen with pale-tinged skin dressed all in black stepped over the railing on the far end of the balcony. Hoots and hollers from the crowd behind him urged him to jump. His eyes locked on Kade and his wings unfurled, stretching wide.

  “Run! Go for the door.” Kade spun me around and shoved me
toward the nearest exit.

  This time I didn’t bother arguing, I just ran. Pushing and shoving anyone in my way, I barreled toward the green-lit exit sign. All I could hear was my own breath, all I could see was myself in slow motion ping-ponging off the concert goers that wouldn’t move out of my way fast enough.

  Finally, I reached the aisle. A straightaway. I stepped in a puddle, a spilled drink I hoped, and my Chucks slipped, sending me scrambling. I got my hand down in time to jump back up and keep going, until I almost ran flat into the blindingly tall form of a man with oil-slick black wings who landed right in front of me.

  I tried to move, begged myself to do…anything. My feet were bolted to the floor, inside concrete shoes that would most certainly get me killed. With nothing left to do, I stared at the Fallen. His square face was the perfect vessel for his clenched jaw and severely dimpled chin. When his lip came up in a sneer, even his teeth were straight as arrows. Deep darkness exploded in his eyes, filling them with an inky blackness that left room for nothing and everything at the same time.

  Move, run, do something….

  Blinking away the fear, I broke my feet free of their imaginary prison. Instead of facing him and testing out one of Kade’s maneuvers, I shuffled back. If I moved too fast I had an inkling he would spring like a lion. Having inched back a good ten feet, I extended my hand behind me. I’d passed the aisle that would lead to the main entryway in favor of a side door, but now that the side door was cut off—

  My hand connected with a body part instead of the metal railing I’d expected. Still, with fear coursing through me, holding something while this Fallen watched me with an animalistic sneer was better than nothing. Kade cleared his throat behind me—I’d know that sound anywhere—and slid my hand away across his thigh to his side. That meant the bulge I’d had my hand on was…oh, God.

  Kade tugged me back and stepped forward in my place, obviously not one thousandth as concerned that my hand had been way too close to his man junk. He didn’t even bother with the peacock flaring of wings. He just took a low stance and held his ground.