The Complete Book Of Fallen Angels

by Valmore Daniels

  “They’re my parents,” he said. “What I did to them is unforgivable. If there’s any chance to fix them, I have to take it.”

  I felt my cheeks flush. “So you’re betraying me and turning me over to them?”

  “Sam promised he wouldn’t hurt you. He wants to talk to you directly. He said once you hear what he has to say, you’ll be free to decide what you want to do.” Turning his head to me, he said, “Sam’s never lied to me.”

  We drove in silence for a while, until I asked, “How’d you know where I was going to be?”

  With a small shrug of one shoulder, Thomas said, “I didn’t. After we sent your stepfather to pick you up, Jenny, Aaron, and a few others waited at every road out of Denver. She said she thought he was going to double-cross us. Turns out she was right.”

  “I hate her guts,” I said, “but I guess if you hadn’t expected the worst, the worst might have happened.”

  Thomas let out a dry laugh. “Don’t count yourself short. If it came right down to it, you’d have taken care of your stepfather. I have no doubt about it.”

  * * *

  The cabin was a mile into the woods, far enough away from the highway that I could no longer hear the roar of traffic. Thomas mentioned that Grigori Ventures owned hundreds of properties all over the United States.

  The area looked like it belonged on a postcard. It was too early in the season for snow at the level we were at, but we had a good view of the mountains and their white caps. The air was fresh and crisp, and the cabin itself looked warm and inviting.

  Thomas led Dwight to a picnic table outside and gave him a gentle push into a sitting position. “He won’t budge unless someone moves him.”

  While we waited inside, Thomas started some kindling burning in the fireplace. I found a bathroom and washed up.

  By the time I was finished, I heard the sound of tires on gravel as I came out. My heart felt like it was going to leap through my chest.

  There were two vehicles; one was a car and the other an SUV. Mr. Ulrich was driving the car with the large man I’d seen at the bus station in Salt Lake City sitting in the passenger seat. Driving the SUV, Jenny looked comically small in the front seat, barely able to see over the steering wheel. I had to remind myself how dangerous she really was.

  Thomas appeared beside me. Though he looked calm, I could see a cloud of uneasiness pass over his face.

  Jenny jumped out of the SUV the moment it came to a stop, and marched toward us. Her eyes never blinked as she glared at me, and for a moment, I thought she was going to knock me over.

  “You little bitch,” she said. “Look at all the trouble you caused.”

  Thomas put a hand up between us. “Serena’s agreed to talk to Sam.”

  At the mention of the Grigori leader, Jenny stopped her forward movement, though she fixed her hateful stare at Thomas.

  Mr. Ulrich approached. I could hear the concern in his voice. “I’m so glad you’re all right, Serena. You should have called me.” He motioned to the large man beside him. “Billy and I have been looking for you.”

  “Enough,” Jenny said. She flicked her eyes to the picnic table. Dwight was still sitting there, looking out at the woodland scene blankly, with a line of drool running down his chin.

  With a twisted smile, she asked, “Do you know why I arranged to have your stepfather pick you up, Serena?”

  “Thomas told me it was to make things go smoother with the police.”

  “Oh, Thomas,” Jenny said, “this is why Sam put me in charge.” She faced me. “It was a test.”

  “What was?” I asked.

  Jenny pointed at my stepfather. “He killed someone you loved. He’s tortured you all your life. Obviously, he decided to kidnap you instead of bringing you back to us. He’s a monster.”

  I glanced at Dwight and the drool falling on the front of his shirt.

  In a soft voice, Jenny said, “Now you have the chance to show us what you’re made of.”

  Giving her a horrified look, I shook my head.

  She said, “It’s time to settle it. Here’s your opportunity. Kill him.”

  “I don’t think so,” I said.

  She smiled. “We’ve made it easy for you and served him up like Thanksgiving dinner. There’s a stream of water right over there. Have at him. Do whatever you like to him, but do it now.”

  “No.” I could feel my cheeks burning with anger. “He might be a pathetic bastard, and I’d love to see him behind bars, but I’m not a murderer.”

  Laughing, Jenny clapped her hands together. “That’s what I thought. You’re a coward. You don’t have it in you to do what needs to be done. I told Sam you’re not worth recruiting. Maybe now he’ll listen to me.”

  “You’re crazy,” I said.

  Jenny’s eyes flared. “You know, it looks like we’re not going to be best friends after all.” She strode over to Dwight and reached out her hand to his neck.

  “No,” I said. Even though a part of me wanted to see him die, killing him in cold blood like this was wrong.

  Jenny stopped before her finger touched his skin, and she gave me an odd expression. It was almost like she didn’t understand what I’d said to her.

  Her mouth twitched, and she extended her hand the rest of the way. The moment her finger touched Dwight, he jerked like he’d accidentally stuck a fork in an electrical outlet.

  His skin turned gray right in front of us, and a trickle of blood came out of his ears. Through the entire process, he never made a sound until his body fell over onto the gravel.

  “What the hell!” I called out, and found myself running over to Dwight. I’d always hated him, and had imagined him dying hundreds of times, but now that it had happened, I felt a disturbing sense of loss.

  He was the last link to my life with my mother.

  Giving me a sneer, Jenny said, “If it were up to me, I’d skip straight to finding a new host for your Grigori, but Sam insists on meeting with you. I’ll give you one piece of advice. Try to play ball. Otherwise, it could go badly for you.”

  She walked toward her SUV. “Thomas, you’re riding with me; leave the pickup here for Billy. Billy, do something with the body. Aaron, you take Serena with you and follow us. I don’t want to ride in the same car as that wretched little skank.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  More than any time in my past, I wanted to run. I didn’t need the deep-seated rumbling in my gut to tell me I was in danger.

  I was outnumbered and outpowered. Jenny was a psychopath; Thomas was blind with hope that his parents would be healed; and the more time I spent with Mr. Ulrich, the more it seemed he was like one of those brainwashed cult members you saw on the news.

  Even if I managed to get away from them, they’d simply track me down again. If they had to do that, they might decide it wasn’t worth it to bring me to Sam Lancaster.

  I didn’t have any choice but to go along with them. Still, I couldn’t just sit there in the front seat of the car with Mr. Ulrich and pretend everything was all right.

  “How can you just go along with this?” I asked. “You used to be a priest.”

  I thought I knew the answer. Mr. Ulrich had been a victim of the kind of violence that had been all too familiar to me throughout my life. His friends had been killed by men very like my stepfather. It was easy to start thinking of people like that as less than human. They were animals. And who cared if a rabid animal was put down?

  To the Grigori, all humans were little more than pets. If they were obedient, they’d be rewarded; if they caused too much trouble, they’d be punished.

  “Once you see the big picture,” Mr. Ulrich said, moving his hand in a circle to help make his point, “you’ll realize that the world is a better place without your stepfather in it. I’m sorry if you had any emotional attachment to him…” He looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

  “I hated his guts,” I said. “That’s not the point. Murder is wrong.”

  “Yes, it is.” H
is voice changed as he added, “But justice is not murder.”

  He flashed a quick smile at me, then turned his attention back to the road. I was thankful he didn’t launch into a religious rant.

  I kept what I was thinking to myself, that there wasn’t any sense of justice in Jenny when she killed Dwight. She’d enjoyed it.

  I didn’t want to talk to Mr. Ulrich about Dwight anymore. I needed some time to sort out the emotions warring inside me. Despite the history I had with my stepfather, I was surprised to feel a sense of loss that he was gone forever, and I felt more than a little shame that I was glad he was gone. Did that make me a bad person?

  I wondered what kind of man Sam Lancaster was if he’d recruited people like Jenny to his cause. Remembering her threat, I asked, “What if I don’t want to join his organization? Is he going to have Jenny kill me like she said?”

  Mr. Ulrich frowned. “Don’t judge all of us by her actions.” He took a moment before continuing. “It’s not my place to criticize the Grigori,” he said, his words coming slowly, “but from a counselor’s point of view, Jenny has some psychological issues.”

  I pursed my lips. “You don’t say.”

  “You all do.”

  “What?” I asked, wondering if I should be offended.

  “I’ve met over a dozen hosts; every last one of you has experienced trauma in your lives. It’s affected who you are.”

  “So?”

  He cocked his head. “I think the resulting emotional vulnerability is a factor in how the Grigori are able to possess you.”

  “You’re saying if I was a stronger person, I wouldn’t have one of these fallen angels inside me?”

  “It’s possible. You might have been able to reject the spirit before it entered you.”

  Was Mr. Ulrich just feeding me a line? Maybe he was just trying to keep me off balance. There was a time I’d started to trust the counselor, but no matter how sincere he sounded, I knew he only truly cared about serving the Grigori.

  “Sam Lancaster has never lied to me,” he said, and I remembered Thomas saying the same thing earlier. “If he’s promised he wouldn’t hurt you, then you can count on it.”

  I hoped that was true, but I wasn’t going to hold my breath.

  When we passed by exit 157 and kept following the I-70 southwest, I asked, “Where are we going? Anak Acres is that way.”

  Mr. Ulrich said, “We’re not going there. Sam has instructed us to bring you to our head office.”

  “Head office?” I’d expected him to call it their headquarters. ‘Head office’ sounded like they were just ordinary business people doing ordinary business things.

  “It’s in Las Vegas.”

  When my stepfather had mentioned Las Vegas earlier, the only image in my head had been of the casinos. I wondered if the Grigori were involved in that business.

  A few minutes passed before he asked, “Are you getting hungry?” He pointed into the distance ahead. “There’s a nice little restaurant I know an hour ahead.”

  * * *

  By early evening, we’d arrived in an industrial area just outside Las Vegas city limits. Most of the streets were empty, the workers having gone home for the night.

  Mr. Ulrich parked in front of a plain, unmarked building. There were a few other vehicles in the lot. Jenny and Thomas pulled up right behind us.

  As we got out and approached the head office, I noticed half a dozen security cameras installed on the corners of the building.

  Mr. Ulrich opened the front door and motioned for me to go inside first. He waited as Jenny and Thomas came after me, and then he went in last. I heard the electronic sound of the doors automatically locking.

  I was taken by surprise when I entered the foyer. Expecting to see a typical office reception area, I couldn’t help but stare at what looked like an indoor forest. Instead of a ceramic floor, there were stone tiles set down like pathways. The outside edges of the room were lined with flowers, shrubs, and even a few trees. Wood paneling decorated the high walls. Skylights made up the majority of the ceiling, providing natural lighting to the entire front room. Several glow globes positioned around the area provided additional light.

  A long, wood-carved counter jutted out in a semi-circle from one wall. Behind it, a tall woman with flowing blonde hair looked up and smiled at me, and I could feel myself grow warm, as if I’d just slipped into a hot bath.

  “Hello, Serena,” she said, the sound of her voice promising me something I’d never felt before in my life: comfort and security. “We’ve been waiting for you. I’m so glad to meet you. My name is Danee.”

  She stepped around the counter and extended her hand to me. I’d seen pictures of supermodels in magazines and on television before, and for the most part, they made me feel bad about myself, like I’d never be as beautiful or glamorous as they were, even if I worked at it the rest of my life.

  Despite the fact that she was tall, perfectly proportioned, and had a face that could melt the coldest of hearts, I didn’t feel an ounce of jealousy. Shaking Danee’s hand, I felt completely at peace with how short and gangly I was.

  To Jenny and Thomas, she said, “Sam’s in his office. You’re to go right in.”

  “Aaron, you stay here,” Jenny said as she headed toward the hall to the left.

  Thomas put a hand on my shoulder. “Come on.”

  As I followed him and Jenny, I found it hard not to look back over my shoulder as Danee went about her business.

  * * *

  We passed a dozen offices with open doors. All were empty with the lights turned off. I wondered who worked here and what they did all day.

  When we reached the end of the hall, an average-looking, middle-aged man with short hair appeared in the doorway of his office, offering us a wide smile.

  “Ah, so glad you made it,” he said to all of us. When he spoke, his words seemed to have weight.

  He took a step back, as if to get a better look at me. “Serena. I’ve been eager to meet you since our good Mr. Ulrich informed us about you. My name is Sam Lancaster.” His smile turned serious for a moment. “I’m so terribly sorry to hear about your father. If we had known who he was, we would have done everything in our power to save him.”

  “Uh, thank you, Mr. Lancaster.” I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Please, call me Sam. We’re all equals here.” Moving back into his office, he gestured for us to enter. “I know you’re tired from the road, but I’d like to talk to you for a few minutes before you get settled in.”

  His office was very earthy—that was the best way I could describe it—much like the rest of the building’s interior. There were two brown cloth couches set up on either side of a low, round table that looked hand carved. We followed him over, and Jenny, Thomas, and I sat down on one of them while Sam sat in the middle of the opposite couch and leaned back, crossing one leg over the other.

  “Jenny,” Sam said, and when he smiled at her, I could see her hard expression soften with a faint blush. “Thank you for taking care of our newest host and bringing her back to us. I knew I could count on you.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. I’d expected Sam, the leader of this band of hosts, to blast Jenny for torturing Jethro, threatening me, and killing my stepfather. Instead, he was thanking her. I wanted to scream at them all, but I knew I was still in a tight spot; they could all turn on me at any moment. I wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Thomas cleared his throat. “Sam, you said you’d found a healer…”

  Looking pained, Sam uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “We did. Unfortunately, our efforts to match Araqiel with a mortal failed. The binding did not take, and he was too vulnerable. We were discovered by the priests, and Lawrence was killed when they attacked us.”

  What he was saying caught me off guard. Priests had attacked and killed one of the hosts? Then I remembered Jenny and Thomas telling me about a society of exorcists. What kind of priests were they that they would kill?

&
nbsp; “The Grigori…?” Thomas asked.

  “He transferred back to the bloodline, but the new host is a rogue; he was aiding the priests.”

  Thomas spoke in a whisper. “My parents?”

  “We will do everything we can for them. I promise you, Thomas. The others are searching for the rogue as we speak. Once we have him, the first order of business—after we find a suitable match in his bloodline—is to attend to your parents.”

  To me, it sounded like an empty promise, but Thomas nodded. “Thank you, Sam.”

  Jenny spoke up. “So the experiment failed?”

  “Yes. At least we know for sure, now. Only Anakim can become hosts. The Grigori spirit is too powerful for mortals.”

  “So we go back to the candidate program?”

  Sam nodded. “It may take longer than we wanted, but it’s tried and true. Besides,” he said, “we can’t mobilize until we locate the Bellator.”

  “Maybe he hasn’t come across yet,” Jenny said. “Only a third of the Grigori have found their way through.”

  “The Bellator is here.” Sam spoke in an assuring voice. “I’m sure of it. Perhaps his host is overwhelmed, and is in hiding. We’ll keep searching.”

  I found myself feeling left out of the conversation. Even if I could follow what they were talking about, I wasn’t sure I wanted any part of it.

  Finding my voice, I said, “Thomas said you wanted to talk to me. That you wouldn’t hurt me.” I still didn’t fully believe I would be safe from them, but I had to say it.

  Sam faced me. “Yes, that’s right.”

  I pointed to Jenny and my voice rose in pitch. “She keeps threatening to kill me so my Grigori can find a better host.” I looked him square in the eye. “And you just told Thomas once you found this rogue—whoever that is—that you would find a more suitable match. That means you’re going to kill him, right? So why should I believe anything you say?”

  Sam leaned back into the couch and gave me a long look. Instead of answering my question, he said, “Jenny, would you like to answer the accusation?”

  Looking like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, Jenny said, “I didn’t mean it. I was just being a bitch.” She gave me a quick, guilty glance. “Grigori do not kill one another.”