by Tara Brown
I blush and turn to walk back into the house. He grabs my arm and spins me. His lips meet mine. The intensity is there but the hunger isn’t. His kiss is passion and darkness. I know I shouldn’t kiss him, but I want to.
"Stop kissing her and go get Aleks. He won't leave until we kill Jon."
He lets me go and looks over me at the redhead, "Lorri, it can wait one more day."
"No. Do it now, and stop messing with the plan." Her tone is sharp.
He steps away from her and then is gone.
I look back at her, "How do you know him?"
Her eyes glass over, "He's my best friend."
"He's a good kisser. Weird and kinda creepy but, wow."
She rolls her eyes and takes my hand, "Come on. I want to show you something."
She pulls me inside and down the dark hallway. Her hands are hot. Uncomfortably hot.
"What are you?"
"Angel. Didn’t Lydia explain?"
I nod, "She did. I just don’t get it. I don’t believe in God. I believe in science."
She stops and looks at me, "He believes in you. Why do you think he asked me to fall?"
I shake my head, "I can't see it. It doesn’t feel real."
She snorts sarcastically, "Well it is. It felt real on my end. Let me tell you."
"Can you show me?"
She looks uncomfortable and then puts her hand up, "Lace you fingers through."
I do it and instantly I am somewhere else. Her voice narrates in my mind. It's soft and distant.
"The mountaintop was a vantage point I didn’t get to appreciate often. I sat on the stones of the ruins, where once a long time ago Adam met Eve and the world fell apart.
The darkness was chasing the sun across a plain in front of me. It felt like the battles going on in the cities below. Good was chased to every corner and snuffed out by the dark that somehow always felt stronger. I wanted to be indifferent to it all. I wanted to watch them kill each other and not get involved, but I knew my turn was coming. I could feel it in the electrically charged air all around me. Even there on the mountaintop, the sparks of the changing winds reached for me. He was calling me.
"Daughter."
I glanced up into the shifting skies, where his voice beckoned me to the meeting place. I had ignored the call as long as I could. I closed my eyes and when I opened them I was there, at the meeting place.
I stood amongst the columns of the old world. The world where we could see his light and feel his presence. The old world where many of us were no longer welcome. None of the fallen could ever enter. It was the last haven for my kind.
I watched as light slithered silently along the cold stone columns and floor. It found me, even in the small corner where I stood in the shadows.
A voice, a soft whisper that blew through the drafty stone columns spoke to me. "You must save them, you must save my creations. You will select four to go with you and you will fight for them. Only from the ground may you defend them. Only from the earth will you find success."
I couldn't breathe or gasp. The air sat stuck in my windpipe. I remained silent as I processed the request.
Finally, I was able to speak. "You wish me to fall as others have?"
A snake filled with doubt and fear slid through my insides, wriggling and twisting.
"I wish for you to help them fight fire with fire."
I ignored the single teardrop that slipped down my cheek and filled the silent darkness with its splatter as it hit the cold stone floor.
"As you wish." My voice was strong, as was my instant resolve to succeed in my mission. It was a problem with my kind. We couldn’t turn away from him while we were loyal. We would follow his desires and commands, no matter what. I dreaded the fact that soon that wouldn't be an issue for me. Soon I would be free of him. For the good and the bad, I would be free.
"Thank you Lucifer. I can trust no one but you, The Light Bearer, The Morning Star. You are my constant and you have my heart."
My lower lip trembled, but my eyes steeled against the pain desperately trying to spread across my face.
I gave a single nod. I spoke nothing to the light.
I watched as the light left the room silently. It left me in the shadow I had been hidden in before he came. I touched the column and knew I would never be back.
I thought of my best friend and instantly stood before him.
He smiled at me, "You look like Michael has been taking a piss again." He could see there was a difference in my eyes and the way they saw the world.
I shook my head slowly, wondering what expression my face held. No matter what it was, it would never be close to the feelings that roamed my insides.
"I have been asked to do something and I need your help."
His smile faded. He tilted his head to the side, "Whatever it is I'm out."
I grinned bitterly, "You're in."
"What is it?"
The grin that has claimed my face had taken hold of my heart, "We fall tomorrow."
The reality of my words slipped across his face slowly. Watching it was like watching the clouds move across the sky.
I raised an eyebrow, "Dorian I need you."
He licked his lips, as if stealing one more precious second before answering me. "Of course love. This place was just getting boring anyway."
"We must get the others and prepare. We fall at dawn."
Her words fade out and the picture leaves my mind but her fingers still burn my skin. I pull back. I feel sick for her.
"You have suffered so greatly."
She nods, "I guess. But no different than anyone else who serves in a time such as this."
"How long has it been a time such as this?"
She looks tired for half a second and then shrugs, "A long damned time. Now, enough chitchat. I want you to come with me. We made a picture for you and Giselle. It's a chart of events and how they happened. Major events. After this I want you to start tagging along with Dorian." She turns sharply, "Not to screw him either."
I flinch.
She pulls me into a room with a wall of pictures and timelines. I glance at Giselle. She looks confused.
Lorri lets go of my hand, "Behave." She turns and leaves.
Giselle peeks her head out the doorway, "She is super mean." She whispers.
I nod, "I think in the other time I was a major slut. She told me not to, well anyway, I think I did bad stuff."
Giselle's beams, "Have you seen the hotties here? Damn girl. I hope I was a slut."
I laugh. She makes me feel better and I realize I like her.
"I want that Aleks guy. Wow. He is a beast."
I nod, "He is a big man." The memory of sitting on his erection happens to float through my mind as I say those words. I blush even more.
"Just so no one shits where anyone else eats, who you calling dibs on?"
The sentence almost takes me a minute. I frown, "Wow. That was super gross. Okay. Uhm, none. You can have them all. It's not real. Attraction from a distance is real but their lust and sexual hunger is forced on you. It's not real."
She shrugs, "I'm a succubus. Some dude named Oliver made me this way. If I have to kill people to eat, I'm going to need a hobby. Sex with all these hotties seems like a pretty sweet gig."
I shake my head, "Gross." But I can't fight the smile.
"We need some perks to this shit, Aimes. We didn’t even do anything to have this happen. I've already killed three people."
My brow grows heavy, "Three?"
She looks sick, "Yeah." But her mood lifts, "At least I ganked Mr. Mac's ass before he got to rape Jaime. Did you happen to hear how bad he got us all? Jaime died in the other world."
"I did hear about it all. I'm glad you got him too."
The dark haired girl with black eyes interrupts us.
"I know you know who I am but just for the record, I'm Ari."
I smile, "Hey."
She rushes me, wrapping her arms around me. Confusion is all over my fa
ce but I hug back.
I can feel her sobs against my body but I don’t know what to say.
"I-I-I'm so sorry Aimes. I-I just thought it-it was a g-g-g-good idea to free you. I never knew that once an Archangel changes you that my power can't take it back."
I hug her hard and shake my head, "No. No, don’t feel bad. Lydia told me how it was before. My mom was dead and my sister, you saved her. This is better. Jaime didn’t die and Giselle and me never got sick. It's okay."
She sniffles and wipes her eyes, "I never knew how much I would miss you. You don’t remember how much we love each other. You're the only sister I've ever had."
Giselle jumps into the hug, "What about me? Were we close?"
Ari stiffens and snorts, "Yeah." Her tone tells me otherwise but Giselle is clueless.
Ari pulls back and wipes her face, "I'm sorry." She shakes her head, "I didn’t mean to lose it like that."
"It's okay. I understand. I feel pretty close to losing it right now too."
She glances at me and nods, "I know right. You must be freaking out."
"Déjà vu. It's been brutal. Like I can't react the way I want to because the imprint of everything is in my brain still, so all of this is normal for me."
Giselle nods, "I keep getting déjà vu too."
Ari smirks, "Yeah. It's part of my thing." She turns and looks at the wall, "So this is the timeline. This is the series of events we have already concurred, even though you weren’t with us this time."
There are two timelines. One is the old way and one is the new way. I can't believe how integral a part of the team I was in the old way. We go over it until I'm bored and Giselle is sleeping.
Chapter Ten
"Miss Aimee, Mr. Marcus be in the yard, he be waiting on you to has a talk with him."
I smile at the ghost and get up from the couch, "Thanks Annabelle."
I shiver when I walk past her, she makes the air cool.
The dark hallway feels foreboding. Marcus is one of the things I don’t trust. Not entirely.
I open the porch door and try not to look like a ridiculous fan girl. He is handsome in a way that makes my knees turn to goo.
"Aimee, my dear sweet Aimee. Now love. Have you gotten those fingers of yours under control?"
I love his accent and his spooky seductive eyes. I nod, almost trancelike.
"Well then, I have news. The boy you tried to kill, he's fine. Better than fine. He's one hundred and fifty percent."
I sigh, "Oh, thank god. No one would tell me anything, except that he was here in the city."
He grins, "Well he isn't here, here. He's in the city. You can flash me home if you like and see him for yourself."
He puts a hand out. I take it nervously. "You should be cold. You’re dead."
He laughs, "Dead isn’t what everyone thinks it is." He holds up his cell phone and nudges me, "Think of the place in the picture and wink.
The house is a grand castle. It's crazy beautiful. I stare at it, lost in the massive size and beauty. I wink and we are standing outside the huge castle.
"Where are we?"
He looks confused, "Well, this is my home." He says it like I should have known that. I supposed I should have.
"A castle? What country are we in?"
He looks at me the way I look at Alise, "Did you bang your head this morning? The USA, we haven’t even left the city or the state. I live in Portland too." He walks through a giant archway into the massive front door.
He's like a mean girl at school. He and Alise would be perfect for each other.
I follow him in. A large man in a bowler hat is at the front door as I walk through it. He grins at me. I grin back. His bowler hat is awesome.
"You look like the bad guy on James Bond." I say.
His grin falls.
I walk faster.
I wink and catch up with Marcus. I topple from the uneasiness in my stomach. He grabs me in his arms. "Careful Aimee, I tend to read into things. A lot." I pull myself together and try not to look his way. I know he's looking at me. I also know my face is on fire.
"S-s-sorry. The uhm winking thing still makes me sick."
He nudges me, "You are a lot less fun than you used to be. You were really sort of, well, badass. I supposed that’s the way to say it." He says the word like he's never said it before.
I glance at him, "Was I a slut?" The words come out before I can filter.
He laughs, "No. Lord no. God I wish. You were uppity and annoying in a lot of ways, but very dependable and sort of bitchy."
I smile, "Thanks. I needed that."
Confusion crosses his brow. He has no idea how upset I have been getting.
"You always wore high heeled boots and your hair was always long and down. You had a very bad tempter. Famous actually among the Roses for killing without conscious or mercy."
Horror creeps across my face slowly, "What?"
"Hated Dorian more than anything in the world. Loved Aleks. Felt sorry for the bloke that's here. Shane. He was always losing wasn’t he?"
I look down at the carpet we are crossing and shake my head, "I can't imagine any of it."
"Well you best start. Lorri is spicy when it comes to failure." His tone still sounds like he couldn't care less.
The hallway is huge and wide and full of amazing paintings and fancy doors. He leads me down to a door that doesn’t look like the others. It slides into the wall and I'm in awe. It’s a lab. My face drops.
He looks proud, "I knew you would like it."
I walk in doing circles as I try to take it all in. "It's beautiful. Is that a hybridization oven? You have everything in here."
"That’s nothing check this out." He walks over to an electrophoresis system like I have never seen before when a voice interrupts us.
"Aimes?"
I look back and grin. "Shane. You're okay."
He looks different. His face was always handsome but now it's perfect. Everything is perfect. He's irresistible. My face drops. I look at Marcus, "What did you do?"
He grins at Shane, "Ahh, good to see you're back, son. How was the feed?"
Shane looks down shyly, "Good. Bit of a struggle but I got it."
I growl at Marcus, "What did you do?"
He tilts his head. "Turn that judgmental face of yours around missy. You did that, not I. I saved him. There was only one way to do it."
I look back at him. My heart breaks. "I'm so sorry Shane. I've killed you." I wink back to Lydia's. I run up the stairs and throw open the door, "We need to reset the clock again."
Ari looks at me and laughs, "Not a chance. Why?"
I cover my face, "Shane. I've cursed him. He's cursed like me now."
She pries my hands away from my face and hugs me, "He isn’t cursed. He's saved. The old you always wanted him to be unbreakable. Now he is."
I look at her in disbelief, "I never could have wanted this. He just ate someone for lunch."
"You never said you wanted it, but I know you would have chosen him if he wasn’t mortal. You loved Aleks, there was no doubt. But the more you were away from him, the less you loved him. Your love weakened with distance and time. Now look at you two. He doesn’t even know you and you barely register him and Giselle is stalking him like a bear."
I sigh, "This can't be the way it's meant to turn out.
She lifts my chin, "Aimes, we don’t get to choose the way it is and the way it isn’t. We get to try to fix our mistakes. You have to know that my powers are not the answer. You must know that by now. After everything."
I rock back and forth, "He's dead. He looks like one of them. One of us. He's so perfect now. I loved the little scar on his cheek and the way he always had messy hair. Now he's perfect. Everything is perfect. It's not him."
"Hey." She pulls me into her, "It's him the way it's you or me. We are still who we were."
I pull back and wipe my flooded eyes, "No. I'm not the same. I know I'm not. I can't even breathe without smelling people and
wanting their souls. I can't walk down the road without noticing a distinct us and them feel to every human I see. I'm not human and I know it. In my heart of hearts I know I'm a monster." I back away and wink.
I drop to my knees in the sand and cry. I like to cry alone or with my mom, watching Austen.
