Chameleon (Supernaturals)

by Kelly Oram

  But I wasn’t like anyone else.

  I wasn’t just borrowing Addonexus’s power. I actually was an angel of death. And like Addonexus, I fed off of the suffering. It made me stronger.

  Big mistake on his part.

  Feelings of malice, greed, lust, and power devoured me until I became thirsty for nothing but death and destruction. With every wicked thought, every evil desire I had, energy rippled through me until I knew that nothing and no one could ever stop me. With this power I could take my revenge. I could kill everyone who’d ever hurt me. And I would. Starting with the evil monster who was squeezing the life out of my throat.

  Just like conjuring up a spell, or harnessing wolf instincts, wielding demonic power came as naturally to me as committing misdemeanors. I gathered up the forces of hell inside me and sent fire surging through the demon in front of me.

  Addonexus dropped me and began screaming and writhing on the floor unable to bear the torture I’d inflicted upon him. “It burns!”

  “Kind of the point of hell, isn’t it?”

  Addonexus got to his knees and glared at me, snarling and spitting black tar. “This evil is no power of mine!” he growled through his pain.

  Except it was. I was just stronger than him so it hurt him more. He tried to get to his feet so I raised my hands to the air and rained down more fire and some brimstone for good measure on him like we’d fallen into the Old Testament. The storm pinned him to the stone floor and seared holes in his flesh, burning him all the way to his dark soul, while he could do nothing to escape it. I kept the nightmare coming until he was so severely weakened that I could finally grab hold of him.

  As I held the very power of death and destruction in my grasp and dragged him over to the rift I’d created, I knew this was the moment in the movie where the heroine would send the devil home with the awesome parting words of “Go to Hell,” but Addonexus would find relief in that and I wasn’t going to let him off so kindly.

  The power that filled me was all consuming. It had completely taken me over. And it had been so easy. I was so angry.

  Clinging to the bitterness inside me, I let out a savage scream and tore my claws through Addonexus, literally ripping him to pieces with my hands. I enjoyed feeling him suffer. Not until I was sure he could take no more did I toss the pathetic waste back into the depths it had risen from.

  I was out of breath when I finally sealed the gate to Hell. I could feel how wild I looked, how savage, crazed as I was and covered in blood. As I turned around and faced the silent room I could see the fear in my friends’ eyes.

  Duncan was cradling Gina in his lap and they were both trembling as they watched me. “Dani?” Gina called warily. “It’s okay now. It’s over.”

  “Over?” I laughed harshly. “Its far from over.”

  Duncan rose to his feet. “Dani, you have to let it go.”

  “Stay back,” I warned. “If you touch me I’ll lose my power. I’ll turn into a vampire.”

  “You can’t stay as you are. Demonic power wasn’t meant for this world and it certainly wasn’t meant for you. It’s corruptive. Dangerous.”

  When he started walking toward me again I held out my hands in warning. “I mean it, Duncan. Come any closer and I will hurt you.”

  I was surprised by my own conviction. I didn’t want to hurt my friend, but I couldn’t give up this power. I wouldn’t.

  Duncan seemed to guess my thoughts and tried to reach me before I could stop him. Even with his vampire speed he wasn’t fast enough. I dropped him to the ground, torturing him with the same wretched sorrow Addonexus had used to hurt Gabriel. I knew what that torture felt like and yet I continued to hurt Duncan as he screamed at my feet.

  “Dani!” Gina cried. “Stop!”

  “WHY SHOULD I?”

  When my temper flared, the fire within me responded. I could feel it’s fury stirring beneath my skin and I wanted to unleash it. All I needed was an excuse, and I had plenty of those.

  “I was stolen from my home and stripped of everyone and everything I ever knew and loved! I’ve been hurt over and over again, and expected to take on this impossible task, while people tried to kill me and torture me, and force me to do their bidding! With my power I can stop both the resistance and the council from hurting anyone ever again. I can take whatever I want! Have whatever I want! I deserve this!”

  Except for love, Danielle. You cannot take love by force. It can only ever be given.

  The words echoed through my ears and rattled its way into the brain of my heart and the heart of my brain, shattering my very core. I released Duncan and whirled around to find the source. I was shocked to see Gabriel awake, and watching me with sad eyes. Beautiful, dark, glossy eyes that could see into the very depths of my soul.

  Just the sight of him seared my dark heart with a power greater than anything inside me. A power so great I was brought to my knees. I knew this power. Cherished it. Wanted it.

  Only the truest love will keep her an agent for good.

  The voice whispered to my mind as it had done only a handful of times before, but upon hearing the words I understood. This was my test. This moment right here.

  The prophecy wasn’t about choosing between the council and the resistance, or trying to figure out who was right. It never had been. It was about defeating the Angel of Death. I’d done that. But in doing so, I’d also become him.

  If I gave in to the temptation to keep this power and use it, I would become the very Evil the Oracle prophesied about. And with my strength it wouldn’t take me long to destroy the world as I knew it. This moment was that great and final battle, and I still had a demon to defeat.

  Mine.

  But how?

  I remembered the words of advice the Oracle had given me. Look to Gabriel and you will find your strength.

  Even as I stood there clinging to the ugliness of such a hellish evil force, showing the very worst of my character and all of my weakness, Gabriel was able to smile at me with compassion and understanding.

  “Love, Danielle,” he said with a voice that was clear, strong and gentle. “It is the only thing that can save you. You must remember what you are fighting for. Remember for whom you have suffered so greatly, and why you were so determined to stop the evil that you are now embracing. You must remember those you love.”

  I didn’t want to, because I knew it would hurt, but I immediately thought of my parents. I thought of everything they’d done to care for me. I thought of how much I loved them.

  I remembered Russ. I’ve never known a person so wholly as I knew Russ. I thought of all the quiet—and not so quiet—moments we had together growing up. I thought of how I would give my life to save him if needs be.

  I thought of that moment on my birthday when he was willing to tell me the truth about himself even knowing I might hate him for it because he loved me so much he couldn’t lie to me.

  Gabriel. The beauty of our first kiss, and his adorable, giddy excitement as he asked me on our first date. How he’d walked away from his home and the man he considered a father in order to help me. His unwavering faith in me.

  Gabriel walked over to me and held out his hand. “I will not make this choice for you, Danielle, but I know you will choose right. I know you are strong enough.”

  I looked at his outstretched hand and began to sob. Even now, looking up into his beautiful face, and knowing how much I loved him, I hesitated. The conflict I felt was unbearable. I stared into his eyes, and for some reason all I could think about was Romeo and Juliet.

  “Love give me strength, and strength will help me through.”

  Gabriel’s eyes sparkled when I whispered the quote and he replied, “But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the East and Juliet is the sun!”

  It wasn’t the Shakespeare, but Gabriel’s ridiculous grin that finally allowed me to take his hand. He pulled me to my feet and held me tight while the evils of Hell left me. I laughed through my sobs, welcoming Gabriel’
s warmth as it washed over me and I finally returned to myself.

  Then, suddenly, more than just his energy was devouring me. He was kissing me with a new passion.

  “Gabriel?” I asked, pulling my mouth away from his to catch my breath.

  Gabriel pulled in some air and continued to kiss whatever part of me his lips could reach.

  “I think the council owes us a honeymoon.”

  “Honeymoon?”

  He had no idea what I was talking about. All I could do was laugh and kiss him again. That was going to be a fun one to explain. Being the Chosen One, as it turned out, was worth it.

  Gabriel and I sat quietly in the small clearing on the edge of Princeton’s campus that boarders Carnegie Lake. The sun had finally set on this All Hallows Eve, but we hardly noticed the autumn chill.

  “Danielle? Gabriel? We’re ready.”

  Gabriel and I joined Duncan and Gina in front of the Councilor’s body. I grabbed Gabriel’s hand and he turned his head into my shoulder.

  “Are you sure we should be doing this now?” I asked. “Like this?”

  “Fire is the way of the supernatural, Dani,” Duncan explained. “It is an honorable burial and in a place that he was fond of. We need not wait for the rest of the council. The sooner he is put to rest the better.”

  “All right.”

  I hated the guy, but somehow, knowing how much he meant to Gabriel, it didn’t seem like enough.

  Duncan laid a gentle hand on Gabriel’s shoulder. “Would you like to do it?”

  Gabriel took a deep breath and trembled so slightly that only I noticed. He took the torch from Duncan and lit the bonfire beneath the Councilor. “It is our very own Samhain celebration,” he said quietly as the flames engulfed the man he’d considered a father.

  Gabriel’s eyes were always glossy, but I could tell the difference when tears covered them with a layer of moisture. “To remember those who have passed,” he whispered.

  I squeezed his hand and kissed his cheek, then went to retrieve the quilt I’d been carrying around for weeks. It was reduced to a rag now, but it was still one of my most valued treasures. “And to new beginnings,” I said and threw the blanket in the fire—my own personal sacrifice to the Creator. The prayer in my heart.

  Gabriel looked at me with wonder in his sad eyes.

  “No more Russ,” I told him. “You are my future.”

  Gabriel’s tears finally broke free down his cheeks and he turned his face back to the fire. We watched for hours into the night until the last flame had burned itself out.

  Gina tentatively broke the silence. “Now what?”

  “Now,” Duncan said with a sigh, “we must go inform the council that they are in need of a new leader.”

  I sighed just as heavily. “And even though the prophecy has been fulfilled, we still have to find Alex. He won’t give up so easily.”

  Gabriel took my hand in his and added a sigh of his own. His was the heaviest of all—as if he knew the fate of the council now rested on his shoulders.

  “We also must figure out who the spy within the council is,” Gabriel said. “Let us not forget that we still have a war to stop.”

  Duncan gripped Gabriel’s shoulder. “Try to cheer up, dear Seer. You’re not alone in this.”

  “Yeah,” Gina said brightly. “We’ll help you however we can.”

  “Plus you have me.”

  Gabriel looked up at me then. I was the one thing that could make him smile. “I do have you,” he said, taking me firmly in his arms.

  “And you have me.”

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  As always, I have to thank Josh—the great and powerful man behind the curtain. Thank you for the amazing covers, all the story notes, and especially for taking over some of the mommy hours so that I can have time to write. Without you my writing career wouldn’t be possible.

  To my editor, Mary L. Holden, never stop leaving your tangents in my manuscript notes. I love them! Thank you for all of your hard work and encouragement. Your faith in me is astounding.

  Thank you to my wonderful beta readers! To Robin and DeeDee—you’ll have to flip a coin to see who gets to be the captain of Team Russ. And to all the rest of the book ladies, thank you all for being my guinea pigs and loving me even though you always get the worst drafts of my books.

  And a special thank you to Vonnie for hating the first ending. The new one is a bazillion times better!

  EXCLUSIVE SNEAK PEEK: MORE THAN JAMIE BAKER (Jamie Baker #2), coming January 2014!

  CHAPTER 1

  Hello, my name is Jamie Baker, and I am not a superhero.

  I repeat: I am not a superhero.

  Sure, I may have more in common with your friendly neighborhood Spiderman than say, anyone else on the entire planet, but having superpowers doesn’t make you a hero. Superheroes use their power for the good of mankind. I only use mine to score excellent takeout and eavesdrop on entertaining conversations.

  Oh, I tried to do the right thing once. I saved a guy’s life even. But in the end all that got me was a bruised up shoulder, and a lot of unwanted attention from an obsessed scientist who nearly killed my boyfriend. So, yeah, that was the end of my superhero career. Or, at least it was until I was involved in the third accident of my life. Well, I should say wasn’t involved this time, but for me that’s basically the same thing.

  Oddly enough, this story starts with Mike Driscoll, the same moron who started all the trouble last time when he bet my now boyfriend, Ryan Miller, that he couldn’t get the school outcast—me—to kiss him.

  Granted, that bet turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. Not that I’d ever admit that to Mike, because for all the joy he indirectly caused in my life, he was also directly responsible for all the pain and suffering of my best friend. The same pain and suffering that we were coincidently talking about when we ran into the jerk a couple of weeks into our first semester of college.

  “I can’t believe I let you talk me into this.” Becky tugged on the hem of her skirt as if she could magically make it grow another six inches in length.

  “Beck, we’ve been over this a million times. Cheering is in your blood. You’d be miserable if you didn’t do it.”

  “But you said you would do it with me.”

  “That was before I decided to go pre-law. There’s no way I’ll have the time for cheering with as much reading as I’m going to have.”

  This wasn’t exactly true. You know that bit about superspeed? Yeah, it so works with reading. Can we say awesome? The not awesome part about it is that I have to keep up the pretense of being normal, which means that Becky has to think I’m still spending all my time studying.

  “Everybody’s looking at me,” Becky whined, giving her skirt another tug.

  “As they should be, you look hot in that outfit. In fact, maybe we should use this opportunity to land you a date tonight.”

  I held my breath as I waited for Becky’s response to my statement. Just about a year ago she’d gone to Homecoming with Mike Driscoll and he’d taken advantage of her after the dance in the worst possible way. She hadn’t been on a date since then, but I knew she was ready to move on. She just needed a little push.

  She rolled her eyes as if I were being ridiculous, but there was a slight tremble in her voice when she said, “A date? You sound like my therapist.”

  “Really? Your doctor must be a genius.”

  Becky snorted.

  “Seriously though Becky, it’s time to put yourself out there again. You’re ready.”

  Becky let out a long, heavy sigh. “I don’t know. Sometimes I think I want to, but then I try to talk to some of the guys on the team and I freak out.” She sounded sad, defeated. “Maybe I’ll never be ready.”

  “Maybe you’re just looking at it from the wrong perspective,” I said. “What if, instead of talking to football players, we find you a nice lovable non-threatening geek?”

  I scanned the quad and found what I was looking f
or leaning against the side of the admin building. “Someone like him, for example. I mean, look at that guy. You could totally take him if he tried anything.”

  “Jamie!” Becky gasped, horrified. “Don’t point at him!” She practically ripped my arm off trying to remove the offending finger. “Oh, my gosh, he saw you! He’s… Is he laughing at us?”

  I looked over and sure enough he was laughing at us. Well, and why not? Becky was only spazzing out.

  “What? It’s fine,” I said. “So what if he knows we’re talking about him? He’s probably flattered that a couple of girls like us are checking him out. Look, he’s kind of adorable. Let’s go ask him out. What guy could say no to a college girl in a cheer skirt?”

  I turned the direction of the guy in question and Becky went into full panic mode. “No! Wait!” she pleaded, grinding her feet into the ground. “Please don’t. I can’t!”

  She wasn’t kidding. Her heart rate had skyrocketed and she was starting to sweat.

  I was torn between feeling bad for her and wanting to kill the jerk responsible for making her this way.

  Becky misunderstood my frown and got defensive. “It’s a statistical fact that one out of every four girls will be sexually assaulted in college,” she said. “One out of eight, raped.”

  I was familiar with the statistics. “I know,” I said gently. “But it’s also true that ninety percent of all campus rapes occur while the victim is under the influence of drugs or alcohol. You don’t drink anymore. Nor do you do drugs. You also know all the party safety rules, you carry mace with you everywhere, and we took self defense classes all summer long. There is no way it will ever happen to you again. You know it won’t. That’s why we’ve been doing all of this.”

  Becky didn’t argue because she knew I was right. She’d loved the self-defense classes and had spent the entire summer telling me how much stronger and safer they made her feel.

  “I know it’s scary getting back out there for the first time,” I said. “Remember, I’ve been exactly where you are.” I smiled and nudged her with my elbow. “Except I didn’t have an awesome best friend willing to kill anyone who looked at me wrong.”