by J. E. Taylor
I stared as well, unable to move, to allow my brain to grasp the death of my uncle or the words he uttered. It wasn’t until Lucifer brought the heart to his lips, that my paralysis broke and I stepped backwards, running into the table.
The beast ripped the heart in half, his eyes closing as he savored the taste and I shivered with revulsion. My gaze darted around the now empty room and back to Lucifer. He swallowed the rest of Michael’s heart and slowly licked his fingers.
“There’s nothing quite like angel blood, even without the grace,” he whispered. The burns on his face transformed before my eyes, healing and reforming to what he had been before the flaming vampire attacked him.
With blood dripping from his lips, he turned toward the cafeteria entry where an officer stood with his gun drawn. The smile that formed set me in motion. Instead of attacking, I turned, grabbed Naomi, and fled.
Naomi tripped on a chair and went down hard on her knees and I stopped to help her up. The boom of a gunshot cut off the crazy cackling laugh behind me. I pulled Naomi off the floor and kept going without looking back.
My throat pounded and burned at the same time and I stopped in the stairwell, leaning over with my hands on my thighs. A high-pitched whine filled my ears and I grabbed for the iron railing, steadying myself while I caught my breath.
“We have to get out of here,” I said, meeting Naomi’s gaze. She glanced at the ceiling and then nodded. Valerie crossed my mind too, but at this point, we didn’t have the luxury of a rescue mission. If we tried, it would put her right in the path of danger.
Another gunshot rang out and I caught my breath, blowing out a stream of air before straightening just as a scream pierced the air.
“Time to go, now,” I said and took her hand. We vaulted up the stairs and stepped into the back of the emergency room. Into a world of chaos.
We sidestepped out of the way, as a group of officers ran by and my gaze landed on the unattended truck. My hand slid into my front pocket and the metal of the spare key ring sent a jolt through my form that moved me forward.
Demon nurse was nowhere to be seen and I helped Naomi into the front seat and crossed to the driver’s side. Ignoring the red stain on the seat and the stench of blood in the small space, I threw the car in gear and peeled out, heading away as fast as possible. I expected to be followed, especially when I was driving like the truck was my Aston Martin and I was on the Audubon.
Naomi gagged and I glanced at her. “Open the window, it might help,” I said and then focused back on the road. I knew the car had markings, so we were untraceable to celestial beings. I wasn’t sure about demons or whatever else was out there.
I didn’t truly exhale until we were in the dark garage and the door had dropped the last inch and the whine of the motor above shut off. I climbed out of the vehicle and made it to the kitchen sink in time to feel the bile burn the back of my throat. The cold water I splashed on my face didn’t stop the onset of the shakes.
For a man who had dealt in death for so many years, this reaction rocked me to the core and I crossed to the table on shaking legs. Naomi was already sitting with her arms crossed on the walnut finish and her face buried in the crook of her elbow. Silent sobs shook her form and I ran my damp hand over her back, not speaking for fear of splitting into a million pieces.
My phone buzzed and I pulled it out, staring at the number.
“Fuck,” the word spit out, interrupting Naomi’s outburst. She stiffened under my hand and lifted her tear-stained face.
I pressed the button and put the phone to my ear.
“I will find you,” Lucifer’s voice growled on the line.
“I’ll be ready when you do.” I clicked the off button and put the phone down, shocked at how calm and cold I sounded. My hand continued the slow caress over Naomi’s back as I stared out the windows at the beginning signs of spring.
“Who was that?”
I pressed my lips together and flipped the phone over showing her the display with Valerie’s number as the last call received. I couldn’t speak yet; I was still dealing with an internal storm that threatened to become a hurricane.
Naomi leaned into me, laying her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around her and set the phone back on the table. Every muscle in my form pounded with the same dull ache that overtook my head. Too much had happened in such a short time and I was still numb.
“I need to call Ted,” I said, avoiding most of the swirl inside me. I began to stand, but Naomi increased her hold on me.
“Don’t shut down,” she said and my gaze moved from the back yard to her deep brown eyes.
I couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up and I peeled her off me, pulling away because with the laughter came a violent anger and I didn’t want it aimed at her. The tidal wave swept through me and I clenched my fists trying to contain the fury and the need to destroy.
Instead of addressing her comment, I stormed away, heading down into the basement. By the time I hit the tunnel, I was in a sprint, trying to run from the emotions wrestling for dominance. The trap door to the garage nearly peeled away from the hinges when I slammed it open and I climbed into the garage, with my chest heaving.
I let out a roar and picked up the closest thing, a socket wrench, and whipped it across the garage. The clang of metal on concrete just fueled my rage. A crow bar was next, but this time I turned, swinging it like I was hitting a grand slam. When the curved edge struck the side of my Ford 150, the satisfying give of metal reverberated up the shaft and into my arms. I didn’t stop there. Twenty-five hundred years of fury blew and I beat the truck over and over and over, ignoring the shatter of glass and creak of metal until my arms were too tired to swing anymore.
I stumbled back into the wall, letting the crow bar fall to the floor before I sank to the ground. I folded my arms on my knees and rested my head against them before the sobs overtook me. The rips coming from my chest echoed in the garage, sounding more like an animal than a human.
I don’t know how long I sat there sobbing, time just seemed to fold in on itself and it wasn’t until her hand touched the back of my head that I became aware of more than just myself. The soft caress of her fingers through my hair silenced me, but they didn’t stop the tears and I didn’t look up. Shards of glass and metal sprinkled the floor within my vision and I chose to focus on the prisms of light each piece represented through the sheen of my tears.
Her soft coo repeated in time with her fingers and when I raised my head and met her gaze, her bloodshot eyes told me I wasn’t the only one experiencing this profound sadness. In silence, I pulled her into my arms and just held her, looking beyond her at the annihilated vehicle.
When I finally let her go, she turned and looked at my destruction.
“At least it wasn’t the Aston-Martin,” she said, and I felt the smile surface.
“Luckily, it wasn’t the closest vehicle to the opening,” I said, my voice raw from my outburst.
“Feel better now?” Naomi asked and wiped my cheeks.
I took a deep breath and exhaled, before climbing to my feet and helping her up. I didn’t quite know how to answer that question, because, while the fury was gone, a fire still burned in the middle of my chest.
“I’m not going to destroy anything else.” I crossed to the closet and pulled out the broom, taking my time cleaning up the mess I made. Naomi took a seat on one of the stools lining my workbench and her eyes tracked my movement.
“Imagine if I still had my vampire strength?” I said as I scooped up the first of many debris-filled dustpans and dumped it into the garbage bin.
Her quick laugh echoed and I met her gaze.
“No, I can’t imagine,” Naomi said, her eyes still glistening with a sheen of tears. “You ready to talk?”
What was it with women and talking? I stopped mid-sweep and stared at her, weighing my reaction. “There really isn’t anything to discuss,” I said.
Her eyebrows curved and her gaze dropped to the re
maining pieces of the car. It was her I-beg-to-differ look and I ignored it, returning to my task of cleaning up the mess I created.
She huffed and jumped off the chair, heading for the exit.
“Naomi,” I said a little too sharply and she spun.
“What?”
“I’m trying,” I started, and leaned my forehead on the broomstick, pushing the flood waters back down into the well of my soul. “I just need to figure out what the hell is going on inside me before I’ll be able to articulate it, okay?”
Her silence brought my gaze from the floor to her face. She gave me a strained smile and nodded before leaving me to finish what I started.
Chapter Five - Damian
I found Naomi in our bedroom curled up on the bed with a throw blanket covering her. I leaned against the doorjamb, crossing my arms and contemplated whether to interrupt her sleep or not. Her soft snore permeated through the fringe of the blanket and I sighed, stepping out of the room. She needed rest and I had a phone call to make.
My stomach growled and I diverted from the table to the refrigerator, opening it and scanning the contents. Nothing appealed to me and I closed the door, stepping back to the table and my cell phone.
The thought of calling Valerie’s uncle left my chest tight, and I opted for calling the hospital to find out how she was instead.
“Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, how may I help you?”
“I understand my cousin was brought into the emergency room earlier today,” I started. “The last information I was given was that she was in surgery. Can you tell me what her status is now?”
“What is her name?”
“Valerie Denongalis,” I said and waited while the person on the other end of the phone entered the information.
“According to the notes, she was flown by Life Star to Hartford Hospital.”
I closed my eyes and exhaled. “Thank you.” I hung up and did a Google search, finding the number to Hartford Hospital and repeated the process.
They took down my name and phone number, validating I was on the list of next of kin. Once they were satisfied, they put me on hold. I paced while waiting for a voice, glancing at the clock and calculating the time we first entered the emergency room and now. Seven hours had passed. A hell of a lot more than I thought and the longer I was on hold, the more unnerved I got.
“Mr. Andreas?” a male voice asked.
“Yes.”
“I’m Dr. Browne, the surgeon in charge of your cousin’s case,” he said and papers shuffled. “She is in the recovery room at the moment, but we will be moving her to the intensive care within the hour.”
“Is she... okay?”
The doctor hesitated. “I’ll know more in the morning. I understand her uncle is on the way. If you have the means to get here...” he drifted off.
“Unfortunately, I’m not in the position to get to Hartford at the moment,” I said. “Can you give me some specifics?”
“The knife punctured her right kidney and we were unable to save it. It also nicked the renal artery and she lost a great deal of blood.”
“She can survive with one kidney, right?”
“Yes, the kidney is the least of her worries,” the doctor said. “The blood loss and increased chance of infection are the bigger issues, but now that we’ve contained the bleeding, she should have a better chance to fight off whatever bacteria might have been on that knife.”
I remained quiet. “Chances of survival?” I asked when he didn’t say anything more.
“If she makes it through the night I can give you better odds.”
“What are her odds of making it through the night?”
“A little better than fifty percent.”
“Thank you. I appreciate the information,” I said and hung up. My next call was to Ted and it took a couple of rings before he answered.
“Damian?” he asked after the shuffle sounds stopped.
“Yes, sir.”
“I assume you know what happened,” he said and I heard a blinker in the background.
“Demons, sir,” I said. “They attacked her when we were in Torrington.”
“What the hell were you doing in Torrington?”
“Valerie wanted Naomi checked out by a doctor.”
“Why?”
“Naomi is pregnant.”
Silence. Ted’s breathing filled the line and all the prophecies Michael had told came to the forefront of my mind.
“Naomi’s due in October and Val was worried that she might be diabetic.” I crossed the kitchen and leaned on the window frame, scanning the wood line beyond the fence. “Val took us to the doctor’s office.”
“Let me guess, the doctor was a demon?”
I blinked at the venom in his question. “No. One of the nurses.”
“You think that’s a coincidence?”
“I... uh,” I stumbled on the words.
“They’ve been watching the house ever since Michael dropped the two of you on our doorstep, and you can bet they were laying in wait for this day.”
The mention of Michael’s name tightened my throat. “Michael’s dead.”
“What?”
“Lucifer showed up at the hospital. So did Michael, and he didn’t make it.” Just recounting the day sucked the life out of me and I walked to the couch in the living room, dropping into the soft cushions. “I don’t know how soon after that they sent Val to Hartford, but I’m glad they did otherwise Lucifer would have found her and eaten her heart too.”
“How did you get out of there?”
“Cops converged.” It was the first time in my life I had been truly happy to see a cop in the vicinity. “And I grabbed Naomi and ran.” I paused and licked my lips. “Did you know Michael gave me his grace?”
An exhale filled the line. “No. He didn’t mention that, but I knew bringing you back from the dead nearly did him in,” Ted said and the soft purr of the engine cut off. “I’m at the hospital. I’ll let you know if her condition changes.”
“Thank you.”
“And Damian?”
“Yeah?”
“You and Naomi need to look for another place to live.”
I huffed a laugh out. “What?”
“I have to keep my niece safe, and I can’t with you there.”
“Ted...” I trailed off. He was right and even though the property was mine, it was where Valerie had lived all her life. I couldn’t take that away from her, not when association with me had cost her everything else.
“I’m serious. I want the two of you gone before I bring her home from the hospital.”
There was no leeway in his statement and I closed my eyes. “Fine. I’ll start looking in the morning.”
“I’ll let you know if anything changes with Valerie,” he said and hung up the phone.
I dropped the phone on the table and rubbed my face. Naomi wasn’t going to take this well and I had no clue how I’d get us out of here without being attacked.
* * * *
Naomi stepped into the room in the middle of a yawn. I did a quick glance at her and then focused back on my computer without a word. There were so many options on where we could go that I was at an impasse.
“Where do you want to live?” I finally asked, looking up as she took a seat on the couch.
“Here.”
“Not an option.”
“Damian...”
“Ted wants us gone before he brings Valerie home,” I cut her off and glanced back at the computer. “And I have no idea where you want to live.” I returned my gaze to her. “New York is not an option,” I added before she fell back on her usual location.
“What do you mean Ted wants us to go?”
I leaned back and kept her stare. I didn’t need to speak, either. It was obvious after today. Anyone close to us would always be in danger and I dropped my gaze to her stomach before looking back at the computer.
My children would always be on the run.
The reality of that s
tatement shot me to my feet and I crossed, slipping outside onto the patio and the chill of the falling evening. I longed for the simplicity of life. The cluelessness of not knowing angels or demons or things much darker existed. I wanted a normal life for my children, not this hide to survive bullshit.
I glanced up at the stars and sighed. Maybe it was time to go home.
Naomi stepped next to me, glancing up at the stars in the twilight sky.
“What about Greece?” I said still scanning the deepening colors of dusk.
The way she sighed pulled my attention to her. She looked between the sky and my face before turning toward me.
“While I’d love to see Greece at some time, this country is my home.”
I knew she’d say that and as much as I longed for the white beaches and azure water of my birthplace, I hadn’t been back and I didn’t know if it would be the same.
“I can’t talk you into some place like Australia or New Zealand?”
She hesitated, studying the colorful sky before she spoke. “Again, those are places I’d like to visit, but I just can’t see living there. And before you ask, the same goes for South America and Africa. I love my country. I don’t want the devil chasing me out of my home.”
“The west coast?”
“California isn’t my style either. I like having the seasons.”
“Tahoe has seasons,” I said, but her head was shaking. “We already did the mountains and while I loved Colorado, I missed home.”
“That leave’s Alaska or Hawaii,” I said, thinking of places as far away from here as possible.
She laughed and met my gaze with a shake of her head.
She wasn’t giving me much of the landscape to work with. “Somehow, I can’t see you in the south either,” I said and gave her a hint of a smile.
Naomi’s dimples made an appearance. “You can’t see me saying y’all?”
“No, no I can’t,” I actually chuckled and pulled her to me. “You definitely are not a mild-mannered southern belle. I can see you as a kick-ass cowgirl, though.”
She wrinkled her nose at me and shook her head. “I’m not interested in the wild west.”
