I was his son. I was. She was…she was nothing. How could he throw me to the side, for her?
We were in the living room and going up the stairs. I was dead weight and Jones dragged me all the way to my bedroom. Melanie was in the corner of the room with her knees to her chest and fear written all over her face. Jones let me go and carefully walked over to her. He picked her up and sat her on my bed. She was shivering and I wanted to do something to help her but I couldn’t move. I couldn’t do anything but stare.
He gently ran his hand on her cheek, cooing her into a trance. Once she was mindlessly looking at him, he put his hands on either side of her temple.
Her head lolled back and forth until she fell backwards on my bed in a deep sleep.
“What did you do to her?” My voice came out as a whisper.
“I erased her memories of the last couple hours,” he said as he adjusted her on the bed so her feet wouldn’t dangle. “Listen, Max and do not ask questions or argue with me. We have to go. We’ll drop Melanie at her house and then we’re leaving town. Once we get somewhere safe, we’ll talk but we don’t have time now.”
I slowly nodded my head. I didn’t have the strength to do anything else.
“Now grab your duffle and pack up some clothes. Pack lightly.” I nodded again and slowly walked to my bag on the ground and picked it up. I didn’t feel in control of my body.
“And Max?” I looked to him in my daze. “Hurry.”
I understood but could only move as fast as my body would go—drained of adrenaline.
I stuffed some clothes in the duffle and saw The Origin of the Nephilim book on my desk. Without thought, I put it in my bag as well.
Jones put Mel in the passenger seat of my truck. “I’ll follow you,” he said before he slammed the door shut and ran to his BMW. I looked at her innocent face as she slept without a worry in the world. No matter how much I tried to memorize every feature of her face and body, it didn’t matter. I put her in unnecessary danger. Not because she was my girlfriend but because I didn’t treat her like one. I risked her life for nothing. Never did I think about her like I had Angela. Never. I was selfish and I hated myself for it.
It didn’t take more than five minutes to get to Melanie’s house. Jones was on the passenger side, picked her up and disappeared into the house. Either he was moving with incredible speed or my mind wasn’t able to process it at the moment. I sat in my truck trying to piece it all together and make sense of things. I did nothing right.
It had only felt like seconds and Jones was already at my window. Opening my door, he reached over me and shut off the engine.
“We’re leaving your truck here with the keys in her mailbox. Let’s go.” Mindlessly, I got out without protest and followed him to the car. I starred at her bedroom window, silently apologizing for not being a better person or the boyfriend she deserved.
With a final goodbye, we pulled out of the driveway and sped through the night. Streaks of light zoomed by as we drove down Main Street and I gazed at the place I was born and raised. I was looking at it with new eyes and within minutes we were already at the border of the next town.
Jones snapped his fingers in front of my face and I looked at him with no emotion. He’d pulled over on the side of the road and turned off the car.
“I don’t know what happened with Angela and I hope that you’ll be able to explain it to me when we get somewhere safe. Just know that whatever happened back there,” he jerked his thumb toward town, “is being left back there. I don’t know what went wrong but I’m your guardian and I’ll die before I let anything happen to you. You’re not just my assignment, you’re my brother.”
A jolt of life hit me like an electric current and I nodded. Moping wasn’t going to bring my mother back or even my old life back. I couldn’t change the things I couldn’t control, but I could start with the things that I could.
Epilogue
Melanie,
I’m sorry for my sudden disappearance but some things have come up. I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye but I didn’t have much of a choice.
I know you’re wondering where I am and why I left, but I can’t tell you. For that, I’m sorry.
This might not mean much and you’re probably mad, and you have every right to be. I don’t want you waiting for me because I don’t deserve it and you deserve so much more. I’m not a good person, Mel. I’m selfish, careless and heartless. I didn’t put your feelings into perspective or think of the consequences when I wouldn’t be able to love you like you would love me. That wasn’t fair.
Needless to say, I do care for you which is why I’m telling you this. It might not make much sense to you but I had to say it.
I don’t want you to stop living your life. Be a teenager, go out with your friends and if in the future you meet someone, don’t hold back because you’re waiting on me. I can’t promise when I will return or if I ever will.
What I can say is that the last couple of months, my whole world was turned upside down and I used you to keep some sort of normalcy in my life. I’m sorry.
I hope that if we ever meet again Melanie Walker, I’ll be a better person.
Be safe Mel.
-Max
PS. If you haven’t noticed, I left you my truck and the keys in your mailbox. While you don’t owe me anything to be doing me any favors, but please take care of the truck. She’s more valuable to me now more than ever. Thank you.
I folded the letter and slipped it inside the marked envelope. A month had passed since I’d last seen her…or my father. I could only hope that they were safe and I could one day see them again. Closing my eyes, I let my last memories of them flood my mind. Twisting the ring on my right middle finger, a mirage of emotions wracked my body: anger, pain, sorrow. I swallowed it all until I felt nothing.
That was how it had been this past month, numb. I haven’t had much time to feel. Once we left town, we visited a storage unit in the nearest city to find my father’s emergency evacuation plan which included a new vehicle, different identities and a boat load of cash. We drove to different towns and cities all across the East Coast trying to lose any trail of us. We settled in the Midwest, once we were able to disappear, at least until last night when I finally decided to open the book Jeremiel had given me.
I now understood why Jeremiel gave it to me. Nothing was what it seemed. His words rang in my head and I laughed at the truth of it.
Within the pages of that book was a prophecy, where good was evil, evil was good, black was white and white was black.
Nothing was what it seemed.
My eyes flickered open and I looked at the envelope in my hands. With the contents safely inside, I licked the seal shut, and walked to the register at the post office. With my hoodie concealing my face, I handed the envelope to the postman.
“A dollar twenty,” he said in a voice that scratched from years of too many cigarettes. I dropped the money on the counter and was out the door and in the passenger seat of our maroon 1998 Odyssey minivan before he could retrieve it from the slot.
I looked up from my hoodie and through the window of the store. He couldn’t see me; I was across the parking lot. With my newly enhanced vision, I saw every detail of his face. His baffled expression made a chuckle escape from my lips.
“Are you ready?” Jones asked from the driver side.
I nodded, “Yeah, let’s go find the Nephilim.”
Acknowledgments
They’re many people I need to thank for the last four years that I’ve spent writing this book. First and foremost, thank you mom. Not only have you been my number one supporter but you’ve been my top promoter. There is nothing like a mother’s pride for their child and you definitely show it. Even when I wanted to keep this top secret, you bragged to everyone and anyone.
My sister Adriana, for being there for me when I’ve needed you the most. Supporting me in all my wacky endeavors and never laughing at my aspirations (because I have many) and ev
en daydreaming with me.
My friend Jessica; I went through a really rough year in 2013 and you were there for me every step of the way, even when I least deserved it. Everyone knows I get lost and disappear sometimes and you’re probably the only friend I have that’s still stuck around and doesn’t mind me being late to the movies. Because truth be told, I’m late to every event possible and you still haven’t unfriended me yet (inside joke).
Thank you to my editor extraordinaire Daniella Brooks. You have been a God send and I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you. Not only did you help me with the technical side of this book, but you also gave me an extra boost of confidence. Your encouragement and excitement was just what I needed to finally take that step and introduce the world to Sins of the Fallen.
To my immediate family members (too many to list), whether you live in the states, Colombia or even Europe, you have all been so extremely supportive of me that no amount of “thank you’s” would be enough to truly express my gratitude.
Finally, to my readers. Thank you so much for giving me a chance to introduce you to Maximillion.
About the Author
Karina Espinosa is the Urban Fantasy author of the Sins of the Fallen series and the Mackenzie Grey novels. She is a blogger at HollywoodNewsSource.com & DirtyandThirty.com. Infatuated with travel, pop culture and the need to write everything down, she spends much of her days in front of a computer working on her next book, shopping online, and listening music. With nomadic tendencies, she is currently resting her head in South Florida until the itch to move strikes again. You can usually catch her on Facebook, Instagram, and live-tweeting during episodes of The Walking Dead and Orphan Black. Follow her on social media!
http://www.karinaespinosa.com
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