Taking Angels (The Angel Crusades)

by CS Yelle

  She pulled the tags off the clothes and I scooped them up and walked down the hall to the bathroom, hesitating to stare at the gray back door only a few more steps further. The image of Kendal pulling the angels out of the amigos squelched that thought and I pushed into the bathroom door.

  I stripped off my stuff, pulling my phone out of my pocket. I held it up and droplets of water showed under the screen. I pressed the power button, but nothing happened. Like I thought, ruined.

  I dried my underwear and bra with the hand dryer and put them back on. I pulled the shirt on over my head and hiked the sweat pants up. As I slipped my socks on, my phone began to shake on the counter next to the sink.

  I grabbed it from the counter, hitting the answer button as I put it to my ear. “Hello?” I whispered in case Kendal lurked outside the door. Nothing. I pulled it from my ear, staring at the water logged screen, and then put it to my ear again. “Hello, hello,” I whispered urgently. Still nothing.

  I stuck it into the pocket of the sweats and straightened my hair the best I could with my fingers. It would have to do. I unlocked the door and walked out of the room carrying my damp clothes.

  Kendal leaned against the wall across from the bathroom, nodding as I stepped out.

  “Need something to eat?”

  “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t be a martyr,” he condescended. “Get something. You need to eat.”

  I lowered my eyes. I did need to eat. “Okay.” I nodded.

  I grabbed a packaged sandwich and a container of milk, placing it on the counter for the woman to ring up. Kendal paid for it, handed my food to me, and walked out ahead of me without a word to the cashier.

  “You seem like a nice girl.” The woman smiled and then it slipped from her face as she leaned across the counter. “Dump the zero.” She winked pulling a strand of gray hair from her thin face.

  “I would if I could,” I sighed. “Thank you.”

  I trudged out after Kendal, getting into the car, and tossing my clothes into the back seat. The woman stared out the window as we drove away, worry visible in her eyes. I hoped she remembered us when Allister stopped and asked. She would put him on the right path, if he got this far.

  We drove another hour and then turned off the main road onto a gravel path grown over with weeds and grass. It wove through the tall trees that blotted out the sunlight until stopping at a large log cabin next to a sparkling lake.

  “Welcome to your new home,” he said getting out.

  I opened the door, the scent of pine filling my nose as a light breeze blew in off the lake. The setting took my breath away and, under different circumstances, was easily tranquil. With the murderer holding me captive, the beauty felt oppressive.

  I followed him to the door as he unlocked it, swinging it inward until it stopped with a thud against the wall. He gestured for me to enter and I walked in, quickly scanning the room for anything I might use to my advantage in making my escape.

  Metal poker, fireplace shovel next to the hearth, pole used to open the uppermost windows on the wall of windows opposite the lake side, pots, pans, many other things giving me a weapon choice with which to assail Kendal.

  He stepped up behind me, leaning close as I cringed at his breath in my ear. “We are going to get to know each other very well,” he rasped. “We have plenty of time before my friends arrive.”

  I turned my eyes his way, keeping my head steady. Friends? The man with the silver tooth? Now my timeline for escape began narrowing in my mind.

  He closed the door and motioned me in further as I moved into the living room. Wooden furniture with blue denim upholstered cushions filled the space, the log walls remained unadorned.

  Kendal moved over and began to stack wood in the fireplace. I watched from behind him, eyeing the metal poker, yearning to take it in my hands and end this now. However, I knew better. My experience with Kendal made me cautious. The marks on my chest burned with the memory of his touch. I could not match his physical strength. He promised to harm my friends if I fought him and I did not doubt him. I nervously spun the silver bracelet declaring my captivity around my wrist.

  He glanced back at me, showing no worry or caution at turning his back to me as he returned to his task.

  The fire soon crackled in the hearth. He stood, walked over to a chair and sat down stretching his legs out upon the wooden coffee table. He motioned for me to sit in the chair next to him and I moved over and sat down.

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked.

  “It started as fun, and then turned into a job. Now it’s a matter of survival.”

  “How do you mean?” I frowned.

  “You wouldn’t understand.”

  “Try me.”

  He looked at me and his features softened as he sighed.

  “I enjoy taking angels. It makes me feel…alive. The only problem is, it’s frowned upon. So I must be very cautious and move around a lot.”

  I grimaced at the idea of killing someone for their angel. His taking my angel grated on me and the images I witnessed while riding along in my dreams made me nauseous. I stared back at his amused expression blankly and his face went emotionless.

  “Why did you take my angel?”

  “I spotted you in the community.” He nodded. “I found you an easy target, besides, your angel felt so… irresistible, I had to have it.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I’ve found when a person has struggled to survive, their angel becomes more pure with the torment they’ve endured. I couldn’t help myself.”

  “So you followed us?”

  “I followed you. I had no interest in your parents. Allister and his sister followed my trail. They are more clever than I gave them credit. They arrived before I had a chance to get all the angel’s essence out of you.” He frowned as if the memory disturbed him.

  “That’s when Allister touched me,” I breathed.

  He nodded. “Yeah, you were pretty much dead by then and the angel didn’t have enough strength to hold on. He should never have touched you. It’s forbidden.”

  “So I’ve heard, but that isn’t worth much coming from a guy who goes around taking angels,” I growled, hoping he hadn’t guessed the full extent of what happened to my angel and soul that day.

  “Hey, even I know better than to cross that line,” he said putting his hands defensively before him.

  “So after you tried to kill me and Angelina, something changed to make you decide to kidnap me instead?”

  “Old Silver Tooth suggested I keep you alive,” he nodded.

  I ventured a guess. “The Eternals from Greece?” I remembered hearing the Parks talk about them.

  “Yeah, they want you alive to take before the council. They’ll use you to condemn Allister and disgrace Victor and his wife.”

  I felt my heart clench. “How could my existence do that?”

  “You are considered an abomination,” he said. “A what?” I stood up.

  “Hold on.” He held out a hand to placate me. “I said they consider you an abomination. I don’t

  necessarily agree.”

  “You don’t?” Surprised, I sat down.

  “At first, yes, but the way you protected your friends back there takes guts. And how you healed Angelina; no one should have been able to bring her back from what I did to her. And the way you…”

  I stared at him as he searched for the words. “The way I what?”

  “The way you…feel.” His eyes got a faraway, vacant look in them.

  “Hey, watch it,” I raised my voice as my anger threatened to boil over. I didn’t like this twist; him being interested in my “feel.”

  “There’s this pull whenever I’m close to you. Like desire, it has me yearning to be near you. I want to touch you, to hold onto you.”

  The way he’d spoken of hurting Angelina, like talking about the weather, pissed me off. I wanted to hurt him, hurt him bad. I bit my lip, forcing back the urge to lay into him. I needed
to think things through. And then when he started to describe how he felt when I was close, it gave me the creeps. I stood abruptly.

  “Where am I going to sleep?” I asked.

  “Right through there.” He motioned to the door off the living room, still dazed from his musings about me.

  I got up and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind me. I sat on the bed, pulling the phone from my pocket, flipping it open and praying it worked. The screen lit up and my heart soared.

  “I’m sorry I made you feel uncomfortable,” Kendal said as he walked in and then stood with his hands on his hips, staring with disbelief at the phone in my hand. He strode over, took the phone and threw it against the wall sending pieces scattering everywhere. He looked back at me with a hurt expression and walked out again, slamming the door behind him.

  I threw myself back onto the bed with a hopeless groan. My only chance to contact Allister, gone.

  Chapter 18 I lay in bed the rest of the day and into the night, staring at the plank ceiling and contemplating my next move. I came back to the same realization over and again. I didn’t have a next move. My options consisted of nil, nada, and nothing. Kendal held all the cards and he wasn’t dealing me in.

  Would the Eternals coming from Greece be a better option? I doubted it. They wanted Allister and the Parks destroyed with me being the final nail in their coffin.

  The sun shone in the window the next morning and I pulled myself from the bed. I opened the door and Kendal looked up from staring at the fire.

  “Hungry?” he asked.

  “Yeah,” I conceded.

  “Some food on the table.” He motioned to the

  next room and turned back to the fire.

  He didn’t seem too worried about me running.

  Guess I didn’t have anywhere to run.

  I walked into the room to find an assortment of

  fruits and pastries. I pulled a banana from a bunch and

  peeled it, looking out the window at the lake as the sun

  shimmered off its rippled surface. I glanced at Kendal

  with his back to me and then walked out the door. I

  walked casually down the path to the dock, feeling

  Kendal’s eyes on my back, and then out onto the wooden

  planks as the structure shook under my weight. Reaching the end I plopped down, hanging my

  feet over the edge, dangling them just above the water. I

  took a bite of banana and moaned. It tasted so good. I took another before finishing the first, my cheek puffing

  out with the fruit stuffed into it.

  The dock shook and I looked back to see Kendal

  coming my way. He stopped next to me, looking out over

  the water as I stared up at him. He then looked down and

  sat next to me. Turning his eyes to the water once more,

  he sighed.

  “I’m sorry you have to be in the middle of this,”

  he said, still looking out across the lake.

  “Uh huh,” I mumbled with my mouth still full. I

  took another bite, not wanting to converse with my

  captor.

  “You seem like a really nice person,” he said,

  looking down at his hands folded in his lap and then up at

  me.

  I stopped chewing, my mouth hanging open, filled

  with banana. I stared at him in disbelief.

  “I know, I know. I don’t believe it either, but if

  things were different, I would like to get to know you.”

  He turned away from my gaze.

  I choked on the soft fruit, forcing it down. “I, I…”

  I stammered.

  “I want you to know, I’m sorry,” he said. He got

  to his feet, glanced down at my upturned face, and

  walked back to the cabin.

  I stared out at the lake. “Holy shit.” I looked back

  at the cabin. Did that actually happen? Kendal? No…no

  way. He didn’t say he…

  I took the last bite of banana and sat chewing it

  shaking my head trying to process what just happened,

  grasping the hint of a chance to get out of this mess.

  Swallowing the banana, I got to my feet and hurried back to the cabin. I tossed the peel into the woods near the

  door and strode into the cabin.

  Kendal sat in front of the fire, not looking up

  when I came in and sat in a chair.

  “Kendal,” I drew his attention back to me. “I

  don’t know what you want me to say. The only thing

  you’ve shown me is evil. How am I supposed to think

  anything other than that of you?”

  “I understand,” he said turning away, his

  expression looked like he just tasted something bitter. “I

  don’t match up to someone like Allister. Never did. But if

  someone like you got to know the real me, maybe, just

  maybe, there’d be a chance.”

  I hesitated as my initial feelings of repulsiveness

  threatened to leap out and rant on him. I clamped my

  mouth shut until the urge passed. “I guess stranger things

  have happened. But until you try, how would you know?” He looked at me, shock registering on his face,

  my response taking him aback.

  “Can we start over?” he asked, hope, begging in

  his eyes.

  “I…suppose we could try,” I forced out trying to

  keep the disgust out of my voice and off my face. A grin twisted his lips and he turned back to the

  fire. His humming broke the uneasy silence.

  We sat and talked the rest of the day. Kendal

  explained the history of the Eternals and I told him about

  me, as much as I trusted him to know. By evening I

  understood how the council, once controlled by Victor,

  now saw him as a threat. Certain members and their

  supporters searched for any way to take his power. My existence gave Victor’s rivals the opportunity

  they needed to disgrace the entire Parks family forever.

  Over the years, Allister’s status had risen steadily in the

  Eternal world, being known as a great healer and a great

  fighter. Many of the younger Eternals, if you can call two

  hundred year olds younger, turned to Allister as the leader

  of the future. This troubled the traditional Eternals and

  they plotted the entire family’s demise.

  Kendal wasn’t happy about the role they forced

  him into, but his sense of self-preservation drove him to

  comply.

  “I’m not strong enough to resist them,” he sighed.

  “I’m only one and they are many.”

  “But you could leave, hide, avoid contact like you

  did for so many years until now,” I told him.

  “They have my family.” He put his head in his

  hands. “If I don’t cooperate they’ll kill my entire family;

  all my uncles, aunts, cousins, brother, sister, parents and

  grandparents. They said they’d erase my family’s

  existence as if we never were.”

  I tried to feel sympathy only it wouldn’t come.

  The images of him killing people forced all other feelings

  aside. I sat silently looking at him.

  “I’m sorry,” the words came hard.

  He looked at me with gratitude in his eyes. He

  gave a little smile and reached for my hand. I drew back

  defensively and he turned back to the fire.

  Mentally exhausted, I stood and walked to the

  bedroom, pausing in the doorway to turn back to him.

  “Good night, Kendal.”

  “Good night, Britt.” He glanced up at me briefly. I closed the
door, leaning my back against it,

  letting out a heavy breath. I didn’t realize acting took so

  much energy. Climbing into bed, staring at the dark

  ceiling, wondering if Allister still searched for me. Two

  days since Duluth, and I didn’t have any idea how much

  time before the other Eternals arrived. My thoughts

  turned to the three amigos and, despite the potential

  danger I’d put them in, fell asleep with a smile as their

  memories filled me with happiness.

  The next morning I showered, getting into my

  own clothes and out of the horrendous tourist-wear

  purchased from the convenience store.

  I walked into the living room. Kendal sat in the

  same place as last night. He looked up as the door

  opened. Sadness rimmed his eyes and it appeared he

  hadn’t slept.

  I stared for a moment, and then moved to the

  kitchen. More fruit and pastries covered the table, he’d

  replaced what I consumed yesterday. I grabbed a danish

  today, figuring one wouldn’t hurt and took the walk out to

  the dock again and sat down. Ducks swam nearby and

  water bugs strode across the glassy smooth surface. The dock began to rock and Kendal sat down

  beside me without a word. I didn’t look over,

  concentrating on the activity of wildlife on the water. I

  felt his eyes on me, but refused to look up. I gathered the

  resolve to begin another day of pretending, not sure I

  possessed the strength.

  I forced a smile to my lips and turned to him. He

  frowned as my eyes met his.

  “You really love him, don’t you?” he asked. I hesitated, caught off guard by the directness.

  “Uh, yeah, yeah I do.” I nodded.

  “Is it because he created you?”

  I stopped to think, staring out at the sun glistening

  on the calm lake. Was that why I loved Allister so much?

  Because he saved me? Numerous times? Could it be as

  simple as that?

  “No, well, yes maybe partly. And because he

  loves me so completely. And I feel something when I’m

  with him I’ve never felt before. And I yearn for him when

  we’re apart.” I stopped, realizing I rambled on, and

  looked back at Kendal.