Falling (The Soul Collectors Series Book 1)

by Tara Benham

He continued to stare at me.

  “Declan?”

  Before I could get another word out, he was there, inches in front of me. I was staring into his eyes. They looked stormy. “I heard you screaming, Angel”

  “I wasn’t screaming. I was in here in the whole time. I swear.” I spread my arms to show him no harm had been done. “See?”

  “I heard you though. It must have been what Hadraniel heard. I never, ever want to hear that sound again!” He pushed me against the wall and kissed me. It was hard and rough at first, but then turned deeper. It was like he was drowning, and I was his air. I was breathless when he finally stepped away.

  “What the Graces was that for Declan?”

  He didn’t answer. He reached for my hand and hastily made towards the hillside. We didn’t talk the whole way up. He kept searching the area for someone or something, but we never saw anything. We made it up the hill and back down to the car in record time. He opened my door, then made sure I was in with the door closed before he would even walk to his side. “I don’t want you at the cottage alone. I’m going to drop you off at Hannah’s.”

  “You can’t. She’s spending time with her family this week.”

  “Why?”

  “Because...I told her. I needed her help.”

  “YOU TOLD HER WHAT?”

  “Everything. Well, almost everything. I didn’t tell her about you or where Haddy really was because I didn’t want to stress her out more. I needed her to know so if I needed help, I would have someone.”

  “And you thought a teenage human girl was your best bet? You probably put her in danger. What the hell, Bayla? Did you even stop to think about the consequences for you when they find out you told her?” He smacked his hand against the steering wheel causing me to jump.

  “I made a decision based on the facts that I had. I didn’t tell her every single detail. I know the consequences.” What I didn’t say was that I doubted I would live long enough to have to deal with the consequences.

  “Well, I guess I’ll take you to the cottage, drop of Alissa’s car to her and then walk back to stay with you.”

  “I can stay alone.”

  “No you cannot. Look at what you’ve already gotten yourself into. I’m coming over. End of story.”

  “Declan.”

  “Don’t ‘Declan’ me. I’m not arguing this point. Hadraniel would agree with me, and you know it!”

  “Cheap shot.” I shrunk into the seat and rode in silence for the remainder of the trip to the cottage. I got out, slammed the door, went inside and locked the door. I knew locking the door wouldn’t make any difference, but it made me feel better. Upstairs, I quickly hid all of Had’s files in my room. I didn’t need Declan snooping while I slept. Once I was sure everything was hidden well, I changed into my pajamas and went into the living room to wait for Declan. The next thing I remembered was the feeling of being carried, and someone whispering, “Sleep, Angel. You’re safe.”

  “I always seem to have a vague feeling that he is a Satan among musicians, a fallen angel in the darkness who is perpetually seeking to fight his way back to happiness.” ~Havelock Ellis

  The next morning I felt lighter, freer. I had slept well. My mind was made up and my path was clear. I dressed quickly so I could get down before Declan woke up. I wasn’t sure what I planned on doing today. I needed to give exploring the valley a break just in case Meph was lurking around. I pulled on yoga pants that Hannah had left, a sweater and put my hair up into my favorite messy bun. Downstairs was very quiet, so I assumed Declan was still sleeping. I crept into the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. I put two bagels into the toaster and went to find where he had passed out so that I could get him up. I searched throughout the whole first floor and didn’t find him. He must have slept in Had’s room. Upstairs, I quietly opened the door to peek in on him, only to find the room empty. Where in the world could he be? I was making my way downstairs when I heard someone knock on the front door.

  “Declan, what are you doing out there?”

  His face contorted in confusion. “You told me not to come back.”

  “I did not. After you used Had as a cheap shot, I didn’t say anything. Besides you carried me up to my room last night.”

  “Someone carried you to your room?” Panic seemed to be rising in him.

  “You did. You said ‘Sleep, Angel. You’re Safe.’” I frowned. Surely I knew his voice by now, even in my sleep.

  He grabbed my hand and pulled me to the front porch. “Don’t move.”

  He went inside like he was some cop inspecting a break in. I had just completed a full sweep while searching for him. There was no one in the house. I didn’t feel unsafe. He was overreacting about the whole situation. I stood outside for a few minutes before he returned.

  “I think it’s safe.”

  “I could have told you that. I just searched the entire house looking for you. I knew no one was in the house. So if it wasn’t you, who could it have been? I felt at ease. I had the best sleep I had had in ages.” I led him into the kitchen to finish preparing our breakfast. “Have a seat, I was just making bagels and coffee.”

  “I’m not sure who it was, but I won’t make the mistake of leaving you alone again. If you don’t want it to be me, then I’ll get Alissa or Sadie to stay with you.”

  I snorted at the thought of Alissa or Sadie staying here, especially if Meph showed up. He would probably laugh at the thought that either of those human teenage girls was supposed to be a threat. “No, you can stay. But I will continue to do what I want for my mission.”

  “That’s fine with me. I have things I need to do too. What’s your plan for the day?”

  “I actually have nothing planned. Yet. I figured it would be better to stay away from the valley for now. Just in case Meph was prowling around there seeing if I would return. You?”

  “No plans, but if I’m going to be staying with you, I need to get my stuff. You can ride with me to my place.” He was talking between bites.

  His hair was pulled back messily, and he seemed tired. I could study his face forever and not get bored. Even just eating he made so many different expressions. I wanted to know them all. I wondered if all demons had this power. I knew they had these looks. Mephistopheles was handsome too, but he carried himself to be powerful and scary. Certainly no one drooled over him, as they were usually too frightened and kept their distance. I had never been afraid of him, but I could see why he would be feared. He was second only to Lucifer. Some rumors have him as his son, which would make Declan his son as well. I had a hard time seeing Declan as Lucifer’s son. If I made it back, the Elders and I were going to have to discuss training the angels more about the demons and fallen angels. We needed to be better prepared for the fact that some were not just out-and-out evil.

  “What’s going on in that mind of yours Bay?” He looked amused.

  “Just thinking how all my training about fallen angels and demons had not prepared me for you.”

  He laughed out loud. “Fallen angels, huh? I assure you I am not one of the fallen, but I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about us demons.”

  I grinned. I liked playful Declan. “I’m formulating my own answers, thank you very much. Shall we head to your place?”

  “That’s awful forward of you, don’t you think angel?”

  I blushed. I didn’t think of it in that manner. My embarrassment only made his laugh deepen.

  “Come on, let’s go. Sorry for tainting your delicate mind.”

  I made sure to lock all the doors this time and had already hidden most of my files the night before when I thought Declan was coming, so I was reassured that we were good to go. I turned, half expecting to see a car there. “What? No schmoozing with Alissa this morning to get her car?”

  “Nah. She can be a bit too much sometimes. I decided a nice walk would be good. This place is really beautiful. I’ve been to a lot of places on Earth, but anywhere with trees is ranked high on my l
ist. I love the outside. When I’m not doing my duties, I am always studying nature.”

  “You are nothing like I would expect.” I was shaking my head but grinning.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Just that you are so unlike Meph. Unlike anything I have learned. You don’t portray evil. According to Had, you’re nerdy and full of knowledge. You just make it hard to remember that you’re a demon.”

  “Maybe I’m not a demon.” He looked at me very seriously. “Maybe I’m one of those Fallen Angels you mentioned earlier.”

  “I could believe that more easily if you had not outright laughed at me when I mentioned them. I know they exist, and you would seem to be more like them than a demon, but who am I to judge. You say you’re not a fallen, and you’re not a demon. What could you be?”

  “Maybe I’m just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or maybe I’m an alien.” He waggled his eyebrows at me, causing me to giggle.

  “Ah yes, an alien. I can see it now. The bun gives it away.”

  “You like my bun.” His stride perked up, and his chest popped out some.

  “I would argue, but you wouldn’t believe me anyway.”

  “In all seriousness Bay, not everything is black and white, good and evil. Sometimes there’s some gray in there too.”

  “Nice pun.”

  He shook his head at me in exacerbation. “I’m being serious.”

  “Okay. You’re being serious. So are you saying that as an angel, I haven’t been taught everything?”

  “I’m saying, as an angel, you should know that not everything is as it seems.”

  This made me think about whether I was missing something. When I got back to the cottage, I needed to review both mine and Hadraniel’s files as one set. Maybe I wasn’t seeing something. Black and white mission was to save Gray from the earthquake...and Declan, too. What could be the gray part that I was missing? I didn’t say anything the rest of the walk. I was surprised when we stopped. I looked up and saw just a tent.

  “Home, sweet home.”

  “Oh, Declan. We had room at the cottage. Why didn’t you come stay with us?”

  “And miss out on camping in this glorious land? I think not. Besides, it wasn’t really that bad. I showered at Alissa’s. She’s not as bad as you think. She’s a sweet girl.”

  “If you say so. Where’s the rest of your stuff?” He pulled a backpack out and started rolling up the tent.

  “This is it. My clothes are in my backpack. I have this tent. I didn’t need anything else.”

  “No files or notes?”

  He tapped the side of his head. “It’s all up here Bay.”

  “Let’s get back to the cottage. You can stay in Haddy’s room.”

  “I’m sorry about Hadraniel. He told me that you had a hard time in the beginning accepting him being sent with you. It seemed that you two had learned how to work together well. I can see you are hurting. Have you heard anything back yet?”

  I shook my head no, and tried to swallow the lump that suddenly appeared in my throat at the mention of Had.

  “That doesn’t mean it’s bad news. Any number of things could be happening right now that would keep them from bringing you news.”

  “I keep telling myself that. My fear is that he was erased, and they don’t want me distracted from my mission.”

  “Hadraniel is strong. Only a few demons even have the power or the necessary weapons that will erase an angel. You know that.”

  “I do. Mephistopheles is one of those demons. He was in the valley yesterday, looking like he was on some kind of separate mission.”

  The conversation switched to Meph on the way back to the cottage. Declan wouldn’t divulge too much, but he painted a picture that showed growing up with Mephistopheles as not being pleasant for him. Apparently Meph was mean all the time and not just when doing his duties. Not that I expected him to have had a soft side, but Declan was his brother. Surely demons had some sort of love for their kin? I had no siblings...but then again, I’m sure life in Heaven is nothing comparable to life in Hell. There was a slight breeze forming in the woods on our walk home and it brought up the smells of the earth. It was comforting. I could see why the humans loved this place. There were just so many things to experience. I wouldn’t choose to live here, but visiting Earth was my personal favorite part of my job. I glanced at Declan, and he seemed to appreciate Earth too. He was taking in the sights and sounds of everything around us as we spoke. He was careful to avoid beautifully created spider-webs or stepping on visible anthills. Watching him was entrancing.

  Once at the cottage, I led Declan up to Had’s room. He chuckled at his obsessive neatness too. I excused myself and went to my room to start studying the files. Not long afterwards, I heard music coming from Hadraniel’s room. Normally it would have irritated me or distracted me, but I was enjoying it. Declan had great taste in music. Hours of studying would be made easier with the melodic sounds creeping under my door from across the hall.

  I started with our files on Gray, scanning through both what was provided to us and what we had written. Nothing stood out as different or overly important that would make it obvious as to why he was the target. It just provided the information of where he worked, his interests, Hannah and his parents. I was just about to close the file when I realized we hadn’t been told about his brother. You would think that with his brother playing such as big part of his story and his path that it would have been mentioned in the files. Why would it have been left out? I created a list on a notebook I had brought with me to make notes on any discrepancies.

  *Possible Clues*

  1) No mention of Oliver

  I scanned once more, before closing and moving onto the mission files themselves. I had to ensure that Gray lived through the earthquake. I had to make sure that once he was safe from the quake, all I had left to do was to collect the souls of those that would make the journey to Heaven. There was no mention of keeping Gray away from Meph or any demon for that matter. Did that mean he just had to live through the earthquake? How long did he have to survive the event for the mission to be considered a success? I added it to the list.

  2) How long does Gray need to actually survive?

  I moved on to the file Hadraniel had kept hidden. Before, I didn’t get past the first few sentences as it had all seemed absurd to me. Now, I needed to review the whole file. Was there something in there that I didn’t know about myself? Could there even be something about me that I didn’t know? My wings ached at the memory. I allowed them to stretch out. Keeping them in didn’t necessarily hurt, but Angels loved their wings, and mine were used to being out more often than they had been lately. Sitting crossed-legged on the bed, pencil between teeth, wings stretching, I should be relaxed, but I just couldn’t get comfortable. The file again listed about me earning my wings, but there was something in there about my family. It explained that I was an only child, but it also stated that my parents were forbidden to have other children. It was no secret that the angel population was highly guarded. What was surprising was that it was listed specifically in my file. There really wasn’t much else of great importance, so I added that to my list. I didn’t even bother to question the earning of my wings.

  3) Why was it important that I was the only child born to my parents?

  By the time I had read through all the files, I had about ten items on the list that I needed to find answers to, but I just wasn’t sure how. I’d thought about asking Hannah, but Declan was right. I should have never involved her in this whole mess. I was shocked at how quickly she believed me, didn’t ask questions or anything. Maybe I had scared her into thinking I was so crazy she was afraid to ask any questions or doubt whether or not I was telling the truth.

  “What are you shaking your head about?” I hadn’t even heard his knock.

  “Just at Hannah. Bless her heart.”

  “Nice wings.”

  I blushed. Demons and humans were not really supposed t
o see our wings. I quickly retracted them. I should have been more careful. “What can I do for you?”

  “I was coming in to ask if you would like lunch. I thought about making something for us. You’ve been up here for about three hours now, you have to be hungry.”

  “Thank you. I would appreciate that. Hopefully you’re better at cooking than Haddy.”

  “I manage.” He gave me a quick grin. “I’ll let you get back to whatever it is that you’re doing. I’ll holler up when the food is ready.”

  *Possible Clues*

  1) No mention of Oliver

  2) How long does Gray need to actually to survive?

  3) Why was it important that I was the only child born to my parents?

  4) Why was Declan sent to be saved for this mission specifically?

  5) Why was saving a Fallen Angel so important now?

  6) Why was there no mention of Sadie in any of the files?

  7) How was I going to collect the souls in a timely manner while battling with Meph?

  8) Who else would be knowledgeable of how to erase an Angel?

  9) What effects would the quake have on the valley, if any?

  10) Why would an event set in “history” be able to be moved up?

  I had three days to come up with answers to these questions. Some I may be able to get from Declan without him knowing what I was up to, and the others would require some researching and praying. I could ask Gray more about Oliver if necessary. I was pretty sure that I wouldn’t find an answer for why I was only child. I only added it since it was in the file. I didn’t feel it was that pertinent to the mission as a whole. I was just reviewing the list one last time when Declan called me downstairs to eat.

  There were candles on the table, soft music playing, and the lights were dimmed. It may have just been the middle of the day, but he made sure to set the mood, for certain. He had set two place settings across from each other at opposite ends of the table. He told me to have a seat while he finished making plates for the both of us. A passing thought that it might not be safe to allow him to serve my food was gone as soon as I smelled the delicious aroma of whatever was on the plates. He made an obvious show of mixing the food up when he placed things on our plates; I assumed it was his attempt to assure me that he had not tried to poison me.