The trip wasn’t planned. But there was so much on my mind I thought I needed the break. Martin suggested taking a couple of days away. It wasn’t busy on the desk at all - mostly because the Quarters had booked all the available bungalows for themselves, as well as for their entourages, and then promptly disappeared without checking out. The bungalows were being kept vacant for the duration of their booking, just in case they showed up again.
It wasn’t likely. I hadn’t asked Alex what he’d done with them. I didn’t want to know. I wasn’t at the stage where I was comfortable with knowing about the mental torture he would have put them through. On the other hand, I was sure that now they'd understand how serious we were about saving the world.
Wherever they’d gone, they probably weren’t coming back in a hurry. It meant that six bungalows were out of commission for the time being, and consequently, we only had about thirty guests on site right now. Things were slow.
Martin said that business would pick up, and it already had, albeit in a weird way. We had some new bookings - some strange and unusual ones. It seemed that one of Princess Maz’s friends - an entrepreneur called Darren Hancock - had been so inspired by her acts of generosity and humility that he’d booked a bungalow for next month, and donated it to four leaders of an inner-city homeless mission. Four humble, caring, charity workers who would otherwise have never ever seen the inside of a resort like ours in a million years.
It was the first time a poor person would stay here. Martin made us all promise we’d try and help them blend in.
However, before they arrived he told me to make the most of the slow time on the desk, and take a couple of days away.
I’d been useless on the desk anyway, hovering between feeling dead on my feet and feeling sick to my stomach. As we drove, surprisingly slowly, I wondered if I had gotten a parasite from that damned thrice-cooked pork belly.
Rubbing my tummy absently, I stared out the window at the jungle that flew past. The setting sun hit the leaves and branches, turning them green and gold. It was a beautiful afternoon. Idly, I watched nature outside pass me by. When there were no humans left, what would it look like? Would the jungle creep onto the road slowly, cracking the pavement with winding roots, knocking down the road signs? It would probably be more beautiful like that. I knew we were capable of beauty - the soaring cathedrals and stunning architecture in Rome were still fresh in my mind.
I knew we were capable of much more. We just needed a little time. All was not lost.
We went through the village as the last of the sun dipped below the horizon. The pale sky gave way to deep blues, and the first stars began to twinkle above us. As we reached my driveway, Alex stirred. He turned around to Nate in the back seat and gave him a look.
Nate nodded back, a slight smile playing around on his full lips.
I was immediately suspicious. “What was that about?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at Alex. “What’s with the nod?”
“Nothing,” he replied smoothly.
I shifted my glare to Nate, who gazed back with innocent eyes. “Just boy stuff,” he said flippantly.
“Boy stuff?” I muttered. “You are not boys. You’re thousand-year-old supernatural entities.”
I glanced out the window in front of me. Down the driveway, I could see glowing bulbs up ahead. They looked like fairy lights. It seemed that Gail had wrapped some solar-powered decorations through the trees that surrounded our house. It was pretty, I’ll admit.
The rest of the house was in complete darkness. I frowned as I stared up at it.
“I thought Margot and Gail were going to be here.”
“They might have popped out,” Alex said. “Let’s go in. We can make ourselves at home.”
Puzzled, I got out of the car. Alex snagged my overnight bag out of the boot before I could, and slung it over his shoulder.
Something was off. I couldn’t put my finger on it at first, then I realized there was an odd feeling of tension in the air. A weird sense of expectation. I stopped at the stairs and looked up at the dark house again.
“You okay?” Alex’s voice was calm and even. If he wasn’t worried, then I had no need to be either. I nodded my head silently.
I could still feel the odd atmosphere. It wasn’t coming from Alex and Nate though. “You guys have done a security sweep? Everything is clear?”
Nate nodded. “Nothing for a mile around us.”
I looked up again at the house, the windows in complete darkness. “Nothing inside?”
Alex smiled at me. “No danger at all.” He cocked his head, and studied me, concern flaring in his eyes. “Why?” He asked me. “Are you okay?”
I bit my lip. “Yeah… I guess….”
He smiled at me and took my hand. I felt reassured, but a tiny bit of trepidation lingered. I’d probably feel better once I got into the house and turned some lights on. The night was so dark out here.
Alex gently led me up the stairs and tried the door.
It was unlocked. He turned the handle and pushed it open.
I took a couple of steps inside. The house was in total darkness - Margot hadn’t even left any lamps on at all. It wouldn’t bother Alex and Nate - they could practically see in the dark. But a tingle shot down my spine. Still feeling unsettled but determined not to show it, I walked into the house and fumbled with the living room light switch. I found it after a quick grope, and flicked it down.
The living room was packed with people. And they all screamed at me.
“SURPRISE!”
Chapter Twelve
I yelped in fright, practically jumping backward into Alex’s arms. “What the fu-”
He chuckled. “Happy birthday, Eve.”
I had to take several deep breaths to clear the pounding of my pulse, as my friends and family crowded around me, laughing, cheering, and kissing my cheek. Margot came forward first, her face creased with laughter.
“Happy birthday, Peanut!” She ruffled my hair.
I scowled at her. “It’s not until tomorrow.”
“That’s only four hours away, sweetie,” Gail ducked around Margot and gave me a quick hug. “This party will probably go on all night, so at least we have the first few hours of your birthday covered.” She smiled at me, pushing my hair off my face. “Although I’ll have to celebrate officially with you tomorrow afternoon. I have a six a.m. shift at the clinic in the morning, so I’ll be plugging my ears and going to bed at midnight.”
Some of my shock began to evaporate, and I smiled at Margot and Gail. They were both positively glowing. Love really was a beautiful thing.
“Eeeeeevvvveeee!” A voice screeched. Next minute, I’d been tackled by Clover, a full body-slam. We hit the sofa together. “Welcome to your adult years! You’re finally out of your teens!”
I laughed with her. “I feel a million years old already, if I’m being honest,” I said. “So be gentle.”
Ignoring me, Dale bounded up and launched himself on top of both Clover and I. “Stacks on!” he screamed.
“Dale! No!” The kid was a hundred pounds heavy. I would surely die.
Strangely, even though his face was directly on top of mine, I didn’t feel the weight of his body. Dodging his slobbery kiss on my cheek, I spotted Zel kneeling beside us on the sofa, laughing wildly and holding Dale’s body above mine, so that he was suspended in mid-air.
“I will save you from this traditional birthday squish, young Eve,” he bellowed.
“It’s not a tradition!” My voice was muffled.
Giggling, I managed to get Dale and Clover off me, and I looked around the room. It was packed with people - my friends from work, a few of Margot’s mates who I’d become close with, and some support people I knew and loved. I spotted my therapist Farrah, chatting with a large man I didn’t recognize. Without pausing for breath, she raised a glass to me from across the room, and carried on chatting to the man brightly. I smiled back at her, surreptitiously checking out the man. As I ran my eyes over him,
his face shimmered oddly. I spotted a furry scrunched-up face. His dark brown hair morphed into huge curled horns for a split second, and, with a jolt, I realized it was Rux in his big form. Judging by the animated expression on Farrah’s face, it was safe to say he was wearing a glamour.
I wondered what would happen when he was forced to say something to her. The little imp could barely string a sentence together. Although, it looked like Farrah was hardly pausing for breath. Laughing to myself, I remembered her telling me that because she listens so much in her job, when she goes out socially, she never shuts up. She’d probably found a perfect conversation partner in Rux.
Looking around the room I could see all my supernatural friends were here too. Nimue was over at the drinks table, holding out her champagne glass for Nate, who was juggling two other glasses in his hand. Zel had maneuvered himself onto the couch beside Dale, and was now gazing happily into his eyes.
“Happy birthday, Strawberry!” Metatron gave me a squeeze. He smelt lovely, like cherry hot pockets. I leaned in and sniffed him appreciatively. He handed me a drink.
“Thanks, Met,” I smiled at him and took a sip. It tasted like Pina Colada, without the alcoholic bite. “Virgin?”
He considered my question. “Not since the bronze ages,” he said, nodding gravely. After a second, his mouth widened into his beautiful, banana-split smile. “I’m so glad you’re here, right now, in this era. This has been the most fun. Imagine if you’d chosen the middle ages!” His face drooped into a dramatic frown. “Now that era was a Debbie Downer if ever there was!”
I laughed. “I don’t think I had much choice in the matter, Met.”
“Pah,” he patted my shoulder. “Everything is a choice. That’s the whole point. Now, if you would excuse me, darling.” He eyed me seriously. “I have a job to do.”
"A job?"
Met turned, squared his shoulders, and marched off into the crowded room.
I watched him go, my heart in my mouth. Shimmying around all the guests, he reached the corner of the living room, where a weird podium had been set up. He climbed a step, faced the crowd, squished some huge headphones over his white-blond afro, and spun a record on the deck.
Heavy bass thumped through the room, and I dissolved into laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Alex joined my side again and wound his arm around my waist.
“Met,” I giggled. “He told me he had to go, he had a job to do. For a wild moment I thought he was going to start channeling God’s words.” I gave a snort. “Instead, he’s in the corner playing trap music.”
“Well, he insisted on DJing,” Alex shrugged. “He even called it a ‘sweet gig.’ Have you recovered from the surprise?”
I nodded. “It was sweet. Thank you. How did you set it up?”
“Margot texted me. She wanted to do something special for your twentieth. She thinks it’s the start of a brand-new era. One in which you don’t get attacked by any crazy people.”
My smile dimmed. “If only she knew.”
“You don’t know. Eve, this could be the end of it. The Quarters are off your back. The Church has excommunicated Godric, and he and the rest of the Sanctum Domeni don’t have any money anymore.”
“All we have to do is kill Nate’s sister,” I said flippantly. “And take out three other angels.” I felt dizzy suddenly, so I slipped out of Alex’s grasp and thumped my butt on the couch. “We also have to figure out who is trying to summon something by drawing all these circles around Revelations,” I said with a sigh.
Nate came back to us with a champagne glass in each hand. Seeing I already had one, he handed it to Alex. “Don’t worry, Eve. The new circle was big, but we know nothing came-”
He cut himself off abruptly. I realized Alex was glaring at him.
“What?”
“I haven’t told her yet,” Alex growled to Nate.
“Oh. Sorry," Nate said. “We found another circle.”
“Another one?”
“This one was at the stables. It was big, it had a quartz cluster in it, and it sort of looked like the person who drew it was getting the gist of what to do. Getting the combination right.” He slung an arm around me, rubbing my shoulder gently. “Nothing came through though. We had imps all around the area; they would have spotted any movement.”
“Maybe that’s why nothing came through,” I murmured to myself grimly.
Alex stirred. “Cheer up, woman. It’s your birthday party. Nothing is going to happen to you tonight. We’ve got every angle covered.” He waved his hand around the room at the plethora of supernatural creatures. “We’ve even got the human angle covered,” he said, pointing at Mickey, the security guard from Revelations, swaying in a corner. “He came straight from his shift. He’s still got his gun in his holster.”
“And he’s got a beer in his hand,” I said dryly. “I’m sure I can count on him.”
I didn’t mean it. Mickey was a great security guard. Especially when it came to dealing with drunk rich people, which is all he ever really did. Yet the sight of the gun made me shiver.
As if hearing my thoughts, Margot stomped over to him. “Hey you!” she snapped, pointing at his face. “We don’t allow weapons of death in this house.”
Mickey’s eyebrows drooped, and he hunched like a naughty schoolboy. “Sorry, Mrs. Eve,” he said, flinching when she glared harder at him. “I caught a ride out here; my gun safe is in my car. I forgot to unholster.”
Margot took a deep breath and sighed it out. “We’ve got a safe in the garage downstairs,” she told him. “Come with me. You can come back and get it in the morning when you’re sober.” She led him away.
“You feel better now?” Alex asked me.
“I do. Guns scare me.”
“Nothing scares you, woman.”
I wrinkled my nose at him. “You keep saying that, but it’s not true.”
He smoothed my hair back. “I’m willing to bet money on the fact that you know how to use a gun.”
“I do,” I admitted. “It was part of my self-defense boot camp that Margot put me through in desperation. She hated it, but she wanted me to be able to protect myself in any way possible, so I did a lot of things. Martial arts, self-defense, risk assessment courses." I frowned. "Shooting was the only thing I was ever good at. Physically, I was never going to be a match for a big man who wanted to hurt me,” I said quietly. “I might know how to use them, but I’m still scared of guns. They’re heavy and hard, and they kill people.”
Alex smirked at me. “I bet you’re a great shot too.”
“I did okay,” I admitted grudgingly.
Behind Alex, the dancing crowd parted, and I spotted Andrea. Guilt shot through me. “Excuse me for a second.”
I walked over. Andrea was sitting on one of the chairs that Margot had placed along the wall in case someone wanted to sit down, although no one else was seated. She sat alone, watching the night staff fling themselves around the dance floor. Her plain, sturdy face was strangely blank.
“Andrea,” I called. She didn’t respond. The music was very loud. I slid myself into the seat next to her and tapped her arm.
She gave a start, and turned to face me.
“Oh,” she said, staring at my face. “It’s you. Happy birthday, Eve.” Her voice sounded mechanic.
“Andrea, I heard about Horace. I’m so, so sorry.”
Her empty eyes fell to her lap, and my gaze followed. Her hands, bunched up, were the only part of her that was animated. Strong, deft fingers were twisting the ends of her flannel shirt over and over.
“I’m sorry too,” she said. “I loved Horace more than myself.”
It was a strange admission. I tilted my head, studying her carefully. Andrea's eyes were misty. “Are you okay?”
She didn’t meet my stare. “I’ll be okay.” Her voice was so quiet I had to lean in close to hear her. Her breath smelt sickeningly bad, and I had to work hard to keep from flinching away from her. She didn’t say anything else.
We lapsed into silence, and watched the dancers around us for a second.
Andrea had never been much of a chatterbox. She had always been pretty stoic, and a very hard worker. At the moment though, it looked like all the life had been drained out of her.
“You have recovered from being sick, huh? You were pretty bad. I thought I had it too,” I said, trying to start a conversation with her. “Obviously not near as bad as you. I just felt a bit dizzy and nauseous. I still do, in fact.”
She stared at her hands blankly. “I got better."
A surge of guilt raged through me. While I was preoccupied with my own, admittedly pretty worthy drama, my friend had gotten incredibly sick. On top of that, only a few days ago, she’d lost one of her favorite horses. Andrea wasn’t that close to any other people at Revelations - it was safe to say that I was one of her only friends. Even Clover, who shared a room with her, barely ever saw her. Andrea worked days, and we worked nights. I only made an effort because I liked her, and she was the one that introduced me to the horses.
I was one of her only friends, and I wasn’t there when she needed me.
“My heart broke when I heard about Horace,” I told her, a tear welling up in my eye. “He was such a good horse.”
“He was,” Andrea said quietly.
“Do you know what happened to him?”
“His heart stopped.”
“That’s it?”
“It happens.”
We fell into silence again. Her breath smelt so bad, it was making me gag, but I had to stick with her.
I decided to come clean. “Listen, Andrea,” I began. “I’m sorry I wasn’t around when you were sick.”
She looked at me blankly and said nothing.
“And when Horace died. I should have come to see you. I should have mourned with you. But I… I… didn’t,” I finished lamely.
A light went on behind her eyes. Finally. “It’s okay, Eve,” she said, her voice stilted. “I know you’ve had some boy troubles.” She nodded, just once. “You should stay away from them, you know. They’re trouble. It’s sickening, the things they want to do to you. If you let them, they will ruin you.”
Revelations: The Fallen Page 17