Jack’s sharp gaze noted that Andie forced what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “Yeah,” she murmured as she nodded a couple of times. “Yeah, I’m fine. It just… I don’t think it’s sunk in yet.” She shrugged lazily. “And maybe it’s just some admirer that won’t go further than this.”
“Maybe,” Jack conceded softly, but he still saw something he usually never saw in her eyes. Fear.
And something inside of him told him this was just beginning.
14
When Henry left to take care of Piper, Reese turned to look at Ollo. Something had bothered her, something that Henry said. Ollo stared down at her with those oddly-colored eyes of his, waiting for her to get whatever it was off her chest, as though he knew she wanted to open her mouth and discuss something. Instead of seeming wary or even annoyed at the prospect of talking so early in the morning, the look on his face was tender, gentle even.
“I didn’t have sex with you because I chose a side.” The words sprung from her lips, completely outside her control. There were times when she was nervous and couldn’t find the right things to say, and there were times when she spit up words like a volcano spit up magma, like they were unstoppable and had the power to destroy. She couldn’t exactly be tactful when she needed to get something off of her chest. “I didn’t have sex with you to make things easier for me when I go out at night with Black Wing.”
“I know.” His voice was still laced with sleep and he offered her his arms, something she could easily fall into and still consider safe. “I know.”
“I don’t regret what happened between us, Ollo,” she murmured against his chest. She knew she needed to get ready for school but the tug of sleep and the comfort of Ollo’s body were pulling her back into a restful slumber. And after the eventful evening she had last night, she really needed that. “I promise.”
“I know, darl,” he told her, rubbing her back. “Neither do I.”
Reese could clearly tell Black Wing–Jack–was distracted. By what, she wasn’t sure, but there was something on his mind that he wasn’t sharing, even though he wasn’t having one of his usually successful nights. After a couple of hours of observing and even shooting her arrows at a couple of street thieves, Reese turned to Black Wing and asked, “Is there anything on your mind that you maybe want to get off your chest?”
The two were on the roof of a building not tall enough to be a skyscraper but just tall enough to see the majority of Onyx’s skyline. The lights danced across the black sky like meteorites in the cosmos, and it was easy for anyone to become distracted when they had such a unique view of their city before them. However, Reese didn’t think that this was why Jack was thrown off all night. There had to be something else, something more.
“What do you mean?” he asked in his low, gravelly voice. He continued to stare off at the city but she knew he was looking at her from the corner of his eyes, waiting for some kind of explanation.
“Well, no offense or anything, but it just seems as though you’re off tonight,” Reese told him honestly. “Your senses are usually sharper, your reaction time is usually faster. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think anyone else would notice, but I’ve been watching you the past few nights and it just appears as though tonight, something has you flustered. You don’t have to share with me or anything, but I wanted to at least give you the opportunity in case you didn’t really have anyone else to talk to.” Especially if it’s regarding Andie.
Of course, she didn’t add the last part, but Reese was almost certain it had to do with her strawberry-blonde friend.
She watched as Jack opened his mouth, only highlighting his pointed cheekbones, and then shut it. His eyes look troubled, and his wings–his velvet black wings–were folded behind his back tightly, as though they, too, were filled with tension, just like the rest of his body.
“When I was sent here, from Heaven, my job was to guard the city,” he explained, still not looking at her. “I was sent here because I didn’t take my position in Heaven seriously, and my father sent me down here, not to punish me but to teach me a lesson. I didn’t understand the difference then, and was bitter at the prospect of being labeled as a guardian rather than a warrior.
“Regardless, being a guardian granted me power, power I didn’t realize came with the job. Of course, it wasn’t the type of power a warrior is granted, but it is still power nonetheless. Instead of focusing on offensive measures and the attack, being a guardian gives you the power to protect.” Now he turned so his entire body faced her, so she could look into his eyes and see the conflict brewing in his irises. “I have within me so much power, but I’ve never felt so incredibly helpless than when I’m confronted with the fact that I can’t protect everyone, especially the person I love. Sometimes, your best isn’t good enough. Sometimes, things happen that you can’t prevent or change. And I hate it.”
Reese swallowed, knowing exactly how he felt. She wanted to reassure him but didn’t know what to say. “You have to remember to live,” she told him, Ollo’s words coming out of her mouth. “You have to go on with your life and appreciate the fact that you’re here and that everything, for the moment, is all right.”
Jack nodded his head and turned back to look at the city, his city. She had never seen him look so stoic before, not even at the parties he always frequented but didn’t seem to particularly enjoy.
“Sometimes,” he went on, “you’re going to have to choose between what’s right and what’s true to yourself. And when you make that choice, hold on tight and never look back.”
“And what would you choose?” Reese asked, furrowing her brow. She didn’t quite understand what he meant by his cryptic words. “The right choice, or yourself?”
A pause, strong and silent, filled with tension that felt like it could drop at any moment. And then, “Andie. Always Andie.” Another silence hung between the two of them, and he tossed his eyes over his shoulder so he could look at her. “Don’t forget to tell Andie about this. Please.”
Now Reese couldn’t concentrate for the remainder of the evening. Had something happened to Andie that she didn’t know about? Was Andie all right? Why was Jack acting so weird and mysterious and brooding? He was supposed to be Black Wing, not Jack Phillip. She understood when he went on about power and not being able to save everybody. Her family was murdered, even though she knew it was going to happen, even though she had had a vision of it before. Yet she could not prevent it, no matter what she attempted to do. It was destined to happen.
Was that what he was referring to? Or was it something else, something she didn’t know about just yet? Instead of getting more clarity on her current predicament, she was getting more questions without any answers in sight. It was more than a little frustrating.
Reese tried to quiet her thoughts now that she actually engaged in battle on the streets of Onyx. Black Wing only allowed her to go after street thugs, taking on the higher ups in the criminal world himself. It wasn’t rare to see him hang people off the edge of buildings or drop them from thousands of feet in the sky in order to track down a lead or attempt to get information on a bigger crime lord.
“Every part of Onyx is divided,” Jack had told her the second night. “There are five sections that each belong to a different Boss. Bosses are supposed to respect territory, keep to their own. Noir didn’t care about borders or respect. He did whatever he wanted, and because he was so psychotic, he got away with it. However, I can guarantee you everyone in Onyx–including the lowliest criminals and their high-ranking Bosses–are glad he’s gone. Those Bosses initially believed that with Noir’s disappearance, order would be restored and Onyx would continue to run the way they were used to, with minor deviances and problems that needed to be addressed.”
“But it’s gotten worse,” Reese pointed out. “Why?”
“Because people saw the power Noir had and wanted it for themselves,” Jack replied. “They don’t know he’s a demon–an Excom–they think he’s a regular man who mana
ged to acquire power simply by taking it. Now, everyone thinks they have a right to the power Noir sacrificed. Onyx is left with a hole, and people think they can fill it. There are no more boundaries, no more territories. Loyalty is gone straight out the window to the highest bidder. These Bosses can’t trust anyone, so they’re more ruthless, more deadly. These streets are filled with nothing but chaos. This is why the Mayor is pushing for a city-wide curfew. There’s a war going on, and as of right now, you and I are the only ones fighting for Onyx and its people.”
So Reese fought. She was shaky at first, worried failure was going to tear at her confidence and make everyone realize she wasn’t fit for the role of Savior, but Jack was patient and he started her out slow. Initially, it was difficult to hit moving targets, but she got the hang of it quickly.
“Never shoot to kill,” Jack instructed her. “You never know what someone can tell us.”
Reese thought that was interesting logic. Jack didn’t want Reese to kill perpetrators because he believed she shouldn’t play God or didn’t want her to take on such a burden of responsibility; rather, he wanted information. That was the sole reason to keep any of these people alive. So she started honing in on her targets, aiming for a leg or arm rather than the much easier torso. There were times when they got away from her, but Jack was always there as backup, spreading his wings and shooting after them.
“How do we know if we’re winning?” Reese had asked.
“We don’t,” came Jack’s cryptic reply. “All we can do is fight until it’s over. When that is, I’m not sure. Nobody is. But we don’t stop until it’s done.”
It wasn’t hard to find crime. It wasn’t hard to put a stop to it. It was hard to be everywhere at once. Reese was particularly sensitive to crimes against women, and always went out of her way to take care of such acts rather than a mugging. Currently, she was in the middle of stopping a rape. The woman was half-dressed, fear clearly written in her eyes. She looked disheveled, and judging from the bruises on her face, Reese was certain he had smacked her around a bit.
“Excuse me,” she called, her bow and arrow already at the ready. “Excuse me!” When the man stopped what he was doing–though he did not yet remove himself from on top of his victim–in order to look at Reese, she continued. “I kindly request that you stop what you’re doing and get off the woman, please.”
“Oh, yeah?” he asked, amused. “And what’re you going to do about it? I tell you what, sweetums, you wait right there and when I’m finished, it’ll be your turn, okay?” With that, he turned back to his task.
Reese opened her mouth to respond, but suddenly, she felt lightheaded and black spots filled her line of sight. She had felt this way before. She knew what was coming.
Oh, no, she thought to herself. Not this. Not now.
She was standing in front of someone. She could feel her mouth move, talking to someone else. She felt… upset. Angry. Frustrated. Whomever it was she was speaking to was someone she didn’t like. Reese couldn’t hear what she was saying. Didn’t know why she felt the way she was feeling.
The person behind her started talking. Reese tilted her head back to listen, but kept her grey eyes fixed on the mysterious threat. And then this person emerged from behind her and it was… Ollo.
She was protecting Ollo.
But why? And why would Ollo need her to protect him?
And then he started talking to her, and she couldn’t help but look at him. How could she not? He seemed insistent to get whatever it was off his chest, needed her to hear something, whatever it was.
The threat, without warning, fired something. Reese didn’t know if they had thrown a knife, used an arrow, or fired a gun, but Ollo was the target.
She didn’t even think. She stepped in front of him, pushed him out of the way, anything to make sure he wasn’t harmed.
And then, everything went black.
A sharp pain caused Reese to crack open her eye, but before she could figure out just who and where the pain was coming from, another blow to her head left her feeling disoriented. She moaned a long, low sound and tilted her head, trying to orient herself to where she was and what was happening to her. She couldn’t think just yet about the vision. She would wait to analyze it later, when she was safe in bed with Ollo. Right now, she knew she was in danger, and she needed to get out of it if she was going to be any help to Jack for the rest of the night.
“Yeah, that’s right, sweetums,” a familiar voice said from on top of her. That was when she noticed she couldn’t get up due to a heavy pressure on the lower half of her body. Someone was holding her down. “Moan for me again, baby. You will. I’m gonna make you do it, just like I did to that girl. Too bad you couldn’t save her. You passed out. I’m used to it. Girls go weak for me.”
“Only because you get them at their weakest,” Reese said, though her face pinched with bruises and her head swelled. “Can’t handle them when they’re aware, can you? This is the only way you can get a girl, huh?”
Where was her bow, her arrows? She knew they weren’t on her back anymore, couldn’t feel them pressing against her spine. She cracked open her eyes and almost groaned again at the pain. Instead, she bit her lip to keep quiet and threw her eyes outwards. They were still by the entrance of the alleyway, where she had first collapsed.
Dammit.
When she felt a hand start to unzip her jumpsuit, her mind geared into motion. She started struggling. She was in danger, and she needed to get out of it now. He started laughing at her attempt to stop him, started talking gibberish–or what sounded like gibberish–about how there was no way out for her, that she’d end up dead just like the one before but at least she’d enjoy herself, that –
And then, he stopped.
Everything stopped.
The talking. The unzipping. The stale breath. The awkward hands. Everything finally stopped. Then a man’s guttural scream pierced the air until…. It stopped.
A loud crash, somewhere a way’s away.
Then, someone was picking up Reese, someone safe and familiar. It was Black Wing. It had to be Black Wing.
“My arrows,” she managed to get out, hoping she was pointing in their general direction.
“I have them,” came his guttural reply.
She felt him fly with her in his arms, across the Onyx night. She knew he would take her home to Ollo, and that Ollo would be upset and use this as an excuse to try and stop her from coming out to Onyx again at night in order to fight the war. She knew how it would all go, and like her visions, she wouldn’t be able to prevent it from happening.
However.
Now, more than ever, she would fight. Someone was going to go after Ollo. The woman she tried to save was dead. She couldn’t stop fighting. Besides Jack, she was all Onyx had, and she didn’t realize it before, but she refused to skirt around that responsibility.
She would fight, no matter what, for as long as possible. Up until her vision came true.
15
It was pitch black and just after one thirty in the morning when Keirah strolled up to the law offices of Onyx District Attorney Lucas Burr. Her dark hair was left undone–Noir liked it best this way–and she wore a long charcoal trench coat cinched at the waist over a collared shirt and dark jeans. She looked like any other woman, except women like her weren’t normally found on the streets of Onyx so late at night when the city was running rampant with crime. It didn’t matter, however; she knew how to take care of herself, and wouldn’t hesitate removing any threat that could possibly get in the way of her heading to Purgatory, whether it was a criminal or an innocent passerby.
She hadn’t known how to prepare for the journey to Purgatory, so she dressed warmly. It made her wonder why such an evil man–demon–would be sent to a place of transition rather than damnation. Could there be hope for him and his soul? Was he waiting there to repent? If so, she knew deep down, he would never leave. Noir believed wholeheartedly in what he accomplished up in Onyx. There was no way he
would ever claim innocence or ask for forgiveness. What Noir did, he was proud of, and there was no way he’d regret it, even if that meant sacrificing Heaven.
Although, again, why God didn’t punish him for his heinous actions and send him straight to Hell…
Maybe everyone got a second chance, a voice guessed. Maybe everyone has, at least the opportunity to ask for forgiveness.
Keirah shrugged, not entirely sure. It didn’t really matter anyways, as long as he still was in Purgatory, waiting for her.
When she reached the double doors of the skyscraper Burr’s office was located in, she glanced at her surroundings, making sure to take everything in. The street was empty, silent. If she had been her old self,the one who still went to high school and interned for Dr. Hawkins and was afraid of Noir, she would have taken it as an ominous sign. Instead, she found it convenient. It would take her no time to pick the locks, and once inside, she’d disable the security cameras. Not that it mattered, considering she’d be leaving Onyx for Purgatory. If people saw her face or recognized her, if Commissioner Jarrett actually admitted that she had been involved in this string of criminal activity for a long duration of time of her own choosing, she would be locked away for good. And, as much as she wanted to believe Noir would risk breaking her out of wherever they happened to place her, she didn’t want to risk his capture. She knew she wouldn’t be able to escape of her own, either. She didn’t have the talent the way Noir did.
The Dark Paradise Trilogy Box Set Page 71
