by Lan Chan
Let me in. It was a command. Its sudden confusion had me smiling. My outward mirth seemed to incense the two men bearing down on me. The mage’s ashen features drew tight. But it was the rage on the face of the Nephilim that stole my breath.
I will not ask again, the thing said. It shoved at my mind. I felt a trickle of something metallic drip down my nostril.
“Bite me,” I said aloud.
A shadow flashed across the Nephilim’s perfect face. His burning sword flared. He brought it down in a shower of green sparks that made fireworks seem dim. Where it should have taken my head off, the blade struck an imaginary forcefield and screeched.
“Protection spell,” the mage’s smooth voice said. It was accented. Scottish, I thought.
“How is that possible?” the Nephilim asked. His voice was deep, his eyes dark for a creature so light. The aura pulsing around him hurt my eyes at the same time I was mesmerised by it. The two souls inside me battled for dominance. I was so not winning.
The mage shook his head. “Not sure.”
“Destroy it!”
The mage’s jaw clamped tight. A bead of sweat rolled down his too-long sideburns. A moment later, the slow shake of his head amused the creature inside me.
When I laughed, the voice that came out wasn’t my own. I clutched at my throat, horror floating up my neck.
“Malachi,” I said. “Last of Raphael’s bloodline. I know you.”
Everything that was light in the Nephilim’s aura winked out. In its place was a shroud of forest green. I scented damp earth and wood smoke. The girl inside me shrank back at his haunting intensity. The point of his sword came up until it reached resistance. It landed just shy of my throat. He pressed the sword forward, his top lip curling when it wouldn’t budge.
“Did it help?” I asked, my chin tipping up in invitation. “Did the death of my brethren bring yours back? Or do they swim amongst the Sea of Souls, waiting for Azrael’s mercy?”
The Nephilim took a step forward. Sparks of green sputtered from the tip of the blade. Something exploded in the back of my mind as a sliver of sword cut through the invisible shield.
His eyes locked with mine.
Both entities in me saw the conviction harden his grip. He would kill me to get to the thing that had possessed me. Either way I was as good as dead. If the Nephilim didn’t succeed, the creature intended to smash its way past the barrier in my mind.
I let out a whimper. The Nephilim’s eyes searched my face. “Fight it,” he grit out. I tried to shake my head but the creature locked me out of my own reactions.
“You keep losing them,” I said, my lips curving. “Failing at the one thing you were made for.”
A second before it appeared like the Nephilim would surge forward, the mage’s hand came down on his shoulder in an iron grip. I tilted my head to the side, affecting a human reaction even if I was far from human at this moment. I tilted my head towards where Nanna lay on the floor.
“Case in point,” I said. “She held out longer than the last, but they all crumble in the end.”
Bile rose in my throat at the creature’s vile anticipation. A tether in my mind snapped. The creature’s pleasure saturated me. It loved every second that it had sapped the life out of Nanna’s body. It enjoyed her futile attempts to break free. And it wanted to do the same to me. Screw that.
The thing felt it the second my consciousness revolted. I screamed in such twisted fury that I knew the human side of me could not have made that sound. My head pounded as the creature doubled its assault on my mind. But the fear that had me paralysed was now reinforced with rage. I lifted my left hand in slow motion. A circle had started this. A circle would end it. Even if I didn’t have the slightest clue how I’d done it. If the Nephilim needed to kill me to destroy this thing inside me, then so be it.
The creature tried to stop me. It threw commands at me to stop moving. But all I needed was the will. The motion was just for show. So were the words.
“Unbind,” I said. In my mind I saw the glowing blue tendrils of the circle snap and disintegrate. A calloused palm landed on my forehead.
The second the Nephilim touched me, the being inside me shrieked.
“Get out!” I screamed in my own voice.
“Wait!” the Nephilim cried.
But it was too late. A tearing sound filled my ears as the entity was ejected from my body through my gaping mouth. It floated in the air for a second before a blue sphere engulfed it and disappeared.
My knees collapsed. The last thing I saw before I passed out was a pair of green eyes that looked as though they wanted to tear strips off me.
3
I came to feeling like road kill. Swallowing past the shards of glass in my throat, I attempted to sit up. Sitting was as much as I could manage. When I opened my grainy eyelids, it was to see the world through glowing white bars. A quick sweep told me I was enclosed on three sides with a cement wall at my back. I was in a cage.
Not good.
To prove that I was an idiot, I extended my hand towards the light. “Ow!”
Great. On top of being glowy, it also appeared to be electrified.
Beyond the bars, the world had turned into a starkly lit, white room. It struck me how similar this room was to the one Nanna had been kept in. My fists balled as I tried to lean forward and crane my neck for a better look.
There was a metal bench in the far right corner. Draped over the metal bench was a familiar figure. His impossibly pure white wings were no longer visible, but he still wore the scowl.
“I’ve lost my damn mind,” I muttered.
The Nephilim lifted his head. My memory came hurtling back and with it the piercing look he’d given me before I passed out. It was the reason why I scooted back when he pushed himself off the bench and stalked towards me. I blinked, unable to comprehend how someone that big could move with such grace. He wore a plain grey T-shirt and black combat pants. His heavy boots didn’t make a scrap of noise as he walked.
My back hit the wall but the cage was small. His reach was long enough that if he wanted to, he could grab me anyway. The Nephilim crouched down in front of me. Even with his legs bent he was still taller than me. It wasn’t even just that he was physically imposing. It was that he exuded some kind of energy that made it impossible to look away.
Christ! Now that death wasn’t imminent, I found it difficult to swallow for other reasons. Up close and without the distracting glow of green, he was younger than I’d first pegged him. Maybe twenty-one at most. Tanned and golden-haired, he looked like he belonged on a sunburnt beach.
Instead, he watched me without saying a word. In fact, the only way I could tell he was alive was the slow expansion of his chest as he breathed.
The silence stretched for too long. It occurred to me that this could be some kind of intimidation tactic.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked.
“What’s yours?” I didn’t know why I was being combative. And I already knew his name. Just like I was sure he knew mine. Something told me this wasn’t about introductions. Now wasn’t the time to play submissive.
“You’re pretty mouthy for someone in a cage. Don’t want to tell me? Fine. I’ll call you, Blue.”
He stared at me right in the face. For a moment, my breath hitched thinking he was referring to my eyes. And then I realised my skin was pale and covered in black and blue bruises. I wasn’t even sure how I’d gotten them. A spike of annoyance tore through me.
“Why am I in here?”
“Why do you think?” Jaw clenched, he wrapped the fingers of his left hand around the bars. I expected the white light to sizzle but it simply glowed around his hand.
“Where’s my grandmother?”
“What are you?”
My last nerve frayed. Ignoring the possibility of pain, I sprang forward and reached through the bars. He moved with a speed that my eyes couldn’t detect. One minute he was there and the next I was grabbing at air. My shoulder hi
t the bars. Electricity tingled up my arm. I winced but refused to make a sound.
“Chicken,” I spat. “What is this? Some kind of experiment you shrinks are running? Just wait until I get out. I’m going to cause such a stink they’ll shut you down so fast you’ll be nothing but a pile of feathers.”
That’s what this was. The institution was using patients for experimentation and somehow I’d walked in on it. Now they were holding me too. A blaze of fury blossomed in my chest at the thought of Nanna being poked and prodded. Pumped full of drugs that made her unresponsive. From where he now crouched just out of reach, his lips pulled into a derisive grin.
“Try the threat without shaking.”
He wasn’t wrong. My body couldn’t stand the battering of the bars. I had retracted my arm and wrapped it around myself. It made me think of those wings that had shielded him as he stood over me. I was delusional too. For the life of me I couldn’t think of when they’d managed to drug me, but there was no other explanation for it. “Let me out.”
“Sure thing. As soon as you tell me what you are.”
“What does it look like I am?” I wriggled my hands at him. “You’re the freak with wings sprouting from his back!”
Smirking, he uncurled into a standing position and tapped an intercom on the wall with the side of his fist. “She’s awake.”
He strode back over to the bench and slumped down on it. “Hey!” I called. He ignored me completely, crossing his arms over his chest and letting his chin dip as though he was going to sleep.
I glanced around this time for something to throw at him. Having seen no other options, I was untying the laces of my sneakers when a thunderclap sounded. I fell back hard on my butt as two figures materialised out of thin air. Both of them were over eight-feet tall and unnaturally beautiful in an ageless way. The one on the left had a mane of scarlet hair that dusted his shoulders. The other was ash blond. They wore ivy-coloured cloaks that billowed around them despite there being no current of air in the room. An unearthly white aura radiated from their figures.
Holy hell! What had they given me?
I rubbed a fisted hand over my eyes but the image remained fixed. I was drugged up like crazy. Where was Mike? Why hadn’t he come to help? Was he in on this too? What made things worse was that I wanted to be pissed. Anger had always been my go-to survival emotion. But a feeling of calm kept trying to smooth over the irritation in my chest.
I found that I was having trouble making eye contact with the giant strangers. Somehow, I was on my knees. The red-headed one spoke.
“Do you really believe the enclosure necessary, Kai?”
The idiot on the bench shrugged. “I can’t get a reading on her. She erected an arcane circle that Evan couldn’t break.”
He shifted position, bringing one foot up to rest on the seat and slinging his arm casually around his knee. The movement tugged the sleeve of his T-shirt up to reveal the intricate pattern of a circular tattoo. I ignored the sculpted muscle the tattoo was painted on. No, I was not salivating. It was probably just that the drugs were making me extra thirsty.
“Listen,” I said, injecting all of the bravado I could into my voice. “You’d better let me out of here pronto. My dad’s a big-shot lawyer, and I’m going to sue the crap out of you.”
Two sets of light blue eyes turned their attention to me. If I were a turtle, my head would be slinking back into my shell. For some unfathomable reason, a blush crept up my neck. I regretted the lie immediately. Though technically it could be possible. Somewhere out there, wherever he was, my biological father could potentially be a lawyer. It would be a stretch but still possible.
The blond man took a step forward. The drape of his cloak swung to one side revealing the scabbard of the biggest sword I’d ever seen. At least twice the size of the one Kai wielded. I gulped, staring down at the cold, stone floor.
“Alessia.”
At the same time he said my name, the bars around me blurred and then disappeared. I tried to scrape my jaw off the floor but it was useless. Instead, I pinched myself on the arm. Still no luck.
“This isn’t happening,” I muttered to myself. “Drugs. It’s gotta be drugs.” I glanced down at the crook of my elbow to inspect it for needle marks. Nothing.
“Rest assured we have not altered your perception,” the redhead said.
I snorted. “That’s what they all say.”
I almost crapped my pants when he smiled. It was at once the most beautiful and most terrifying thing I’d ever seen.
“We mean no harm,” the blond added.
“Says he who is carrying around the biggest sword on the planet. I hope that’s not to compensate for anything.”
He shook his head at me, bemused. “I am Michael,” he said. Turning to his companion, he swept out his arm. “This is Raphael.”
“Greetings, Alessia,” Raphael said with a nod.
“Lex,” I blurted out. “I prefer Lex.”
“As you wish.”
“What I wish is to leave this place. And to take my grandmother with me.”
They traded a glance. That was never a good sign.
“How much did Bethany tell you about what you really are?” Michael asked.
Now my danger radar was really sounding. Nobody called Nanna, Bethany. She’d knock their block off if she knew. Doctors at the Institute would know, though. What kind of doctors were eight-feet tall?
“We’re not physicians, little one,” Michael said.
I froze. Had he just read my mind? It was too much of a coincidence that he would say that right at this point. And then something else occurred to me. “You’re treating her and you’re not medically qualified?” My voice was beginning to rise. The indignation made me forget to prostrate myself in front of them. I pushed up till I was standing. The top of my head barely made it past their waists.
“I swear to God, if something happens to her, I’m going to kill you.”
A snort came from the direction of the metal bench, but I blocked it out. But both men were also suppressing smiles. I didn’t see what was so funny.
“We have no doubt you will keep your word,” Raphael said. “But we can assure you, we don’t mean Bethany any harm.”
I braced my fisted hands on the sides of my hips. “What do you mean you mean her no harm? She’s been in here six years! She’s not getting any better and now I’m stuck here too.”
Raphael’s amusement softened into pity. I wanted to scream. Someone was begging for an ass kicking and I didn’t care if they were three times my size. Just as I was clamping my jaw to stop from letting fly with a bunch of curses, Raphael dropped him palm to my forehead. The agitation melted away into a feeling of serenity. My bunched-up shoulders unknotted.
When next I heard his voice, it wasn’t through my ears but through my mind. Just like with the thing inside Nanna’s cell.
Be calm, little one, Raphael sent. My mouth snapped shut. We won’t hurt you. But I cannot allow you to continue as you are. A shot of something warm slid down my spine. It radiated through my rib cage and settled in my chest. And then I felt it tug. It was like a phantom force scattered the pieces of my soul into an abyss and then put it back together again.
Not a demon, Michael’s voice entered my thoughts. Curious nonetheless. Almost…familiar.
I tried so hard to keep my eyelids from closing. To fight whatever drugs they were secretly giving me. But it was futile.
Sleep, little one. Your battle is just beginning, a new voice said. One that had come to me the first night I’d been on the streets. It was an old friend, really. Suddenly I was convinced I was tired and allowed myself to fall under.
4
I was already sick of waking up in strange places. At least this time when my eyes flicked open I wasn’t in a cage. In fact, there were blankets of the softest material wrapped around me. And a pillow under my head. That realisation had me shooting upright. The last time I’d slept with a pillow it was because I’d taken it
from someone’s pool house. Randall stole it the next day and I was back to square one.
Low light bathed the room from the beam of moonlight that stretched through the slit in the curtains. I rubbed at my eyes as my night vision kicked in. Reaching out, I laid my palm on the wall by the head of the bed. Plaster. It was a good sign that the wall wasn’t “cushioned.”
That was about the only good sign I could see. This place was foreign. It smelled weird. I sniffed again. Clean and floral. This was definitely not my cardboard box in the bushes next to the rail overpass.
My brain was a fog of thoughts. Yet when I stumbled out of bed, I couldn’t remember ever feeling so well rested. They must have given me something after I passed out. I scrunched up my nose when I saw my reflection in the mirror behind the door. Is this how drugs affected people? What kind of wacked-out experiments were these people conducting? I peered at myself in the mirror. I looked like a scratchy-eyed Medusa. When I tried to run my fingers through my wavy brown hair, it caught in a massive knot. Brilliant.
My stomach rumbled. When was the last time I’d eaten? I was supposed to go dumpster diving after visiting Nanna. It had been at least four or five hours since then.
Nanna. Where was she? What were they doing to her?
I’d had enough of this nonsense. Fully expecting the door to be locked, I tried to open it anyway. My surprise when it swung open was only overtaken by what I saw outside. Stepping into the corridor, I tried to count the number of doors in front and on either side of me. I lost track at seventeen because I could no longer see that far. How many patients did this place have? The website had said it housed only those involuntary patients who were both a danger to themselves and to society at large. Was there a dangerous person behind every door? A shiver ran up my spine as I walked back into the room and shut the door.
Okay, fine. If I didn’t want to go out that way then it would have to be the window. Nanna’s room had windows that didn’t open. For extra security, the glass was reinforced with metal mesh. But when I went to pull aside the curtains in my room, I found there was a latch that I could easily unlock. The window slid up with barely a push. Somebody was earning their keep as handyman.
