by J. E. Taylor
I blew air from between my lips. I wasn’t sure I could battle that many demons in a building that was basically fire tinder.
I wiped the thought from my brain and focused on Gabriel. “Is there anything else? Anything at all that you can remember that might help us find him?”
Gabriel looked down at the moss and drew his eyebrows together in concentration. “There was enough newer graffiti sprayed over the walls to make me wonder if it wasn’t as desolate as I thought. Some of the garbage laying around made me think it might have been an insane asylum at one time. I think one of the decaying pamphlets had something about mental health on it, but I’m not sure. I was pretty much delirious half the time, first from the physical beatings, then from grief, and then from lack of food.” He met my gaze. “If he hadn’t killed me when he did, I probably would have starved to death. I’d bet my body is still hanging in the chains, just like my mother’s. He left Tom and Bridget’s bodies where they had fallen, too, so the smell of decay has to be hideous.” He glanced back at the moss. “The place may have been haunted, but I’m not positive about that. I thought I saw a few ghosts, but I was pretty delusional near the end.”
CJ wiped his pale face and gave a nod. He turned and headed back towards the house. I shifted from foot to foot, unsure of whether I wanted to ask anything else or if I should follow CJ.
“What took you so long?” Gabriel asked, staring at me. His arched eyebrow announced accusation as much as his tone.
“We jumped through one of the breaches to get out of an avalanche.” I met his gaze and shrugged. “Kylee, Levi, and I had to traipse through hell to find the last open breach.”
His jaw dropped and his mouth formed a surprised O before he recovered and found his voice. “Seriously?”
“Afraid so,” Michael said. “We camped outside of the breach in Ireland until they came out.”
“I am so sorry we didn’t get here sooner, but time didn’t work the same way down there. We had no idea so much time had gone by when we finally jumped back through.” I studied the moss at my feet.
“It wasn’t your doing, Faith,” Gabriel said with a sigh. He glanced at the treetops, like admitting that had actually physically hurt him. When he finally looked at me, his expression was torn between sorrow and frustration.
“If I hadn’t caused the avalanche, we would have been home.” I met his stare. “Then you wouldn’t have been taken.” Again, it was my actions that had almost wiped out an entire family. I swallowed that bitter pill hard.
“Sweet child,” a voice from the water interrupted, and Naomi Andreas stepped onto the moss. She crossed to stand in front of me. Her warm hands descended on my shoulders.
I had an entirely new respect for her now that I had Damian’s memories, and I understood her standing by her daughter the way she had. Even though her disappointment had been visible, it had still been her daughter. Saving her was Naomi’s first instinct. Her failure to save either Gabriel or Grace reflected in her eyes, and I covered one of her hands with mine to try to ease some of her suffering.
“You know as well as I do what would have happened had you been home. None of us would have survived. Lucifer would have taken the fight to us, and you know how that would have ended.”
Her sad dark eyes reached into my soul, and I bit my lip to keep from tearing up. I shivered, thinking of April’s vision. I knew exactly how that would have turned out: the walls of CJ’s house painted with the last of the angel descendant’s blood, and my red hair draped over the kitchen table and my chest with a gaping hole where my heart had been.
I couldn’t stay here anymore.
Not with the mix of emotions thickening the air.
Michael gave me a nod as if he knew just how freaked out I was getting. I turned and left so he could have time with his mother and brother before they disappeared.
The girls were playing soccer on the front lawn when I stepped out of the woods. Valerie and Kylee sat on the dock stairs with Alexa, talking quietly. CJ wasn’t anywhere in the yard. I caught a glimpse of him through the big bay window and headed inside.
CJ had a map printed out in front of him and was placing dots on it as he looked between his computer screen and the paper.
“What are you doing?” I asked as I closed the front door behind me.
CJ looked up from his computer. “Mapping out the abandoned hospitals and asylums within reason from York that are in the same condition that I saw in that video.”
“What’s within reason?” His idea of within reason and mine could be vastly different.
“A four-to-six-hour radius.”
I would have gone up to eight hours.
He raised his gaze from the screen for a second. He didn’t even have to say it. I knew he had heard my thoughts, but he didn’t respond beyond that intense stare that made me want to study the wood grain in the floorboards.
“Why not more?”
“Bridget disappeared and then returned within the same day. So, eight hours would be pushing it.”
“Oh.” I glanced out the window at the kids playing and wished I could be a kid again just for a moment. I wanted to be carefree like they were. It was something that I’d never gotten to experience.
CJ sighed, pulling my attention back to him.
“The last time I found Lucifer in an abandoned building, it was New York City.” He wiped his face. “But I’m not sure he’d go back to the city again, although we can’t rule it out.”
“He seems to like the city. He had Naomi and Damian in an abandoned building in New York as well,” I said, remembering some of Damian’s memories I’d filtered through in the wee hours of the morning.
He nodded and jotted down the names of the locations at the bottom of the map, biting his lower lip. “There’s nothing in New England that hasn’t been converted or doesn’t have public access. He wouldn’t be somewhere that has regular foot traffic.”
I agreed with his assessment. He had to be somewhere Naomi’s and Gabriel’s screams weren’t able to be identified. Which meant a fairly remote area or deep underground, but deep underground didn’t fit with Gabriel’s description of the space.
CJ leaned back and stared at the list on the map in front of him. “We’ll go here first.” He looked up at me and tapped the one in western New York.
I glanced at where he tapped on the map and looked up at him. “We?”
“Yes. We. I am going with you. I just need to make sure Valerie has what she needs.”
I crossed my arms. This was so not a good idea. “I don’t think so. I am not going to lose another Ryan in all this. Besides, you heard Gabriel. He’s set traps.”
“Precisely.” He pointed at me. “You need me.”
It was funny how CJ could be reasonable and cocky at the same time. The same thing that endeared me to Alex frustrated me in his father.
“No.” I reached down and ripped the list from his grip. I stared at the six names, four of which were in New York.
“We’ll go to Willard first and then loop around to Pennsylvania then track back from there.” He traced the route he had mapped out, and it made sense to me. “We might need to break overnight at our penthouse if we don’t find him before we hit Staten Island or Poughkeepsie though.”
“That’s a good plan, but you keep saying we. You need to stay here and protect them.” I pointed out the window. “Besides, I’ve got Levi, the demon-eating dog.”
“I am not a dog,” Levi grumbled from the living room floor.
I had almost forgotten Levi was still inside. I guess in our hurry to get some breathing room after Lucifer’s on-air debut, we didn’t think to let him out.
I threw my hands up in the air. “Okay, demon eating monster.” I turned back to CJ’s sharp glare. The more razor-like his look became, the more he knew I was right. “Besides, you aren’t going to be able to pull the trigger,” I mumbled under my breath.
His glare tightened. “I am going with you. Or we wait until you are s
trong enough to do this on your own.” He crossed his arms in a silent challenge.
I didn’t have a smart come back, so I glanced out at the kids playing in the yard as the night started creeping in.
We didn’t have the luxury of time. But we also couldn’t underestimate Lucifer. If we did, that could be a disaster.
Lucifer was picking up his game. Destroying Alex’s future seemed to be hot on his list, even though he was the one wearing the image. He no longer had anyone in his grasp beyond Grace. And all she had was time on her side, especially with Lucifer’s end game of creating an army of trinities.
The longer we took, the deeper the hole he would dig for Alex. It was his M.O., his favorite game, and he knew just as well as I did it would flush us out of the woodwork. As much as I didn’t want CJ to go with me, I couldn’t exactly turn down the help, especially since I hadn’t mastered this power searing my veins.
“Fine, but we can’t leave them unprotected.” I nodded toward everyone outside. “If you are with me, Levi stays here.”
“I wasn’t planning on leaving them unprotected,” he said and stared me down.
It took a few seconds for his meaning to sink in. He had the capability to transfer power. He had done it multiple times before.
“Levi stays.” I folded my arms, adopting my most intimidating stance because we both knew one protector wasn’t enough.
“Don’t I get a say in this?” Levi said from his station on the floor.
“No,” both CJ and I said in unison.
“I have my orders,” Levi growled.
I spun on him and pointed. “I am changing them. You are to stay here and make sure everyone in this house remains safe along with whoever CJ deems suitable to have this kind of crazy power.” I was certain I looked like a deranged teacher wagging my finger at a problem student.
Valerie stepped into the house and Michael followed. Kylee had stayed outside on the swing rocking her baby while the three girls continued to kick a soccer ball around the backyard. The sun dipped below the horizon and daylight was fading fast.
“What the hell are you thinking?” Valerie said to CJ, ignoring me as she crossed to stand close enough to encroach on his space.
“I’m thinking someone has to stop that madman, and she isn’t strong enough to go it alone,” CJ replied.
Valerie’s hands clenched as she closed her eyes. “It is still our son in there.”
CJ put his hands on her shoulders and sighed. “It’s been almost six months.”
“He’s still in there!” She broke away from CJ and ran into the bedroom, then slammed the door.
CJ glanced at me and then at Michael. “I’ve got a favor to ask you.”
“I’m going with you,” Michael said.
“No, you aren’t.” He pointed out the window. “I need you to stay and protect them. All of them. Kylee and Alexa included.”
The glare Michael sent was deadly, and his jaw tightened. “We are vulnerable here alone, and you know that better than anyone.”
“Levi will be staying to make sure nothing happens. And if you need to go to the store, you bring everyone. Including the dog. Understand?”
Michael crossed his arms. He looked more like Superman taking a pose against a threat than just a guy hellbent on running to his death.
“You can’t go with us. You’re the last one left,” I said, and his piercing gaze swung in my direction. I swallowed hard at the fury in his gaze.
“My sister is still alive.” His teeth clenched. “As much as she has betrayed all we have stood for, she is still my sister.”
“And she will not lift a finger when he punches a hole in your chest and rips your heart out,” April said as she walked into the room.
We all turned to her. She had that glossy zombie-eyed quality that reminded me of when she’d had the vision at Tom and Bridget’s house. She had passed out then, and when she swayed on her feet now, I moved. But Michael was faster. He caught April as she fainted.
Her words snuck under my skin and I rubbed my arms against the goosebumps. CJ took the opportunity to slip into the bedroom and confront Valerie while Michael laid April on the couch.
Michael turned to me, and his face was less bright, less stubborn than it had been before. “I just…”
“I know. I want him gone as much as you do, but if I can save Alex at the same time, I’m going to try. You would take the shot without giving Alex a chance. That’s if you got close enough.”
“And Grace?” His lips pressed together.
That wasn’t as clear-cut as Alex. I studied my hands for a moment. “If she doesn’t get in our way…” I sucked my lower lip between my teeth and nodded. “I’ll bring her back.” I stopped short at saying alive, because that wasn’t a promise I could make. “But if she attacks us…” I met his gaze.
He slowly nodded. “I get it,” he said, and he seemed resigned to being the last Andreas standing.
Light flared under the bedroom door. I traded a glance with Michael before I bolted to the master bedroom. I swung the door open as the last of the light inside faded and Valerie took a large inhale of air.
“Why?” she asked CJ. Her voice shook and her wide-eyed gaze was glued on him.
“Because having angel grace is dangerous where we’re going,” CJ said. “And I know you’ll give it back when I return.” He leaned in and gently kissed her cheek. “It’s safer with you.”
“You gave her your power?” I asked as I looked between the two of them.
“I gave her enough to keep the family safe, but more importantly, I gave her the archangel grace for safekeeping.” He glanced at me. “You should do the same.”
My mouth popped open and my face heated. I knew I wouldn’t have an issue with Raphael’s grace, but I was certain that Lucifer’s had bonded with me at a cellular level.
“I don't know if I can.” My gaze bounced between the two of them as the rest of my skin heated. I clenched my fists to keep my fingers from sparking as nerves bit relentlessly.
CJ cocked his head, studying me. “You didn't have an issue pulling out Raphael's grace before.”
“I'm not worried about his grace. It's Lucifer's that I don't think I can extract. I think I have the same problem that Tom did.”
The lines in CJ’s face softened. “I know you have the same issue Tom did. I was talking about transferring Raphael's grace,” he said, his voice quiet and calm. “I'm tempted to have you transfer Tom's gifts as well, just in case the worst happens, but my gut is telling me you will need everything you have, especially if we are going to attempt to save my son.”
I crossed close to Valerie. “I agree. And if something does happen, I think you’re right. I shouldn’t walk into battle with more than just Lucifer’s grace.”
I put my hand over my chest and concentrated, remembering CJ’s original instructions about imagining the grace as a power mass in the center of my being. I concentrated on sweeping the pieces into one large and separate power source in my chest, and then I imagined my hand was a magnet pulling the grace out of my body. When I opened my eyes, angel grace shined in my hand. Instead of putting it back inside me, I pushed it towards Valerie’s chest. Her back arched, and her sharp inhale filled the room as did the light dancing over her skin.
The absence of Raphael’s grace left me shaking, and I took an unsteady step backwards. CJ grabbed my upper arm to steady me. I hadn’t realized just how much Raphael’s grace had balanced the darkness of Lucifer’s. Without it, I struggled to push away the raw evil trying to take over every cell.
“Faith?”
CJ’s voice seemed far away, and I shook the fog out of my head. “I’m okay,” I said, but even my voice sounded strained.
How could angel grace be so tainted, so vile-tasting in my mouth?
I shivered and rubbed my arms. I wanted to ask for Raphael’s grace back, because I wasn’t sure if I could handle it. I did not want to end up as warped as my father.
The awe I had
for Tom increased tenfold. He had carried around this malevolence for over ten years. I had no idea how the man didn’t go dark. I now understood his insistence that I never give into it because it was as overwhelming as drinking poison.
“Maybe we should…”
I glared at CJ, and he stopped talking and just put his hands up, stepping away.
“You’re the one with the doubts,” he said.
I hated that he could read me so easily.
“If Tom could do it…” I inhaled. “I can do it.” I brushed away my worries and focused on building a wall between my soul and the darkness assaulting it.
Chapter 4
At first light, CJ knocked on my door. “Time to go.”
I rolled away from the door and stared at the wall. Today would either end up in triumph, disappointment, or death. All things considered, I’d rather stay in bed, thank you very much.
CJ banged his palm against the wood. “Up. Now!”
“Fine. I’m moving.” I rolled off the bed, obeying his sharp order.
By the time I finished getting dressed and throwing a few things in an overnight suitcase for our unwanted adventure, I stepped into the living room. Michael came out of his room and crossed to the kitchen. He poured a coffee and sat down on the couch without even a nod of acknowledgement to either me or CJ.
I guess he wasn’t a morning person.
“Are you good?” CJ asked from the kitchen. He glanced over his shoulder at me.
I bit my lower lip and nodded. “We need to have some sort of plan for Valerie to know if things go sideways.”
“We talked about that last night. I promised to call or text her every hour.” He turned to Michael. “If Val doesn’t hear from me for more than three hours, something is wrong, and I need you to assume the worst. If that happens, you need to take them to Kylee’s. Understand?”
Michael crossed his arms. “I’ll send them all to Kylee’s, but then I’m going after Lucifer myself.”
CJ looked at the floor and nodded. “That’s your funeral, but I need you to assure me that you will make sure Val and the kids are safe before you barrel off to your death.”
