“Victor? He’s here? Where is he? Let me see him. Lindsay you can’t keep me here. I need to go. I have someone who’s probably looking for me right now.”
“I know, Robert. I don’t think you’ll see him again.”
A surge of fear coursed through her. Not enough to counteract the sedative but enough to wake her up a bit more. She tried to extend her wings but found that she couldn’t. “Why not? Where is he?”
“Hopefully he’s somewhere near Victor so that we can end this and go home. I’m excited to show you and tell you everything.”
“End what? Lindsay, for god sake, you can’t hurt Robert or let Victor hurt him. I’ll do anything you want.” Before she could get a hold of her emotions she felt two tears on either side make their way down her cheeks.
Lindsay leaned forward and wiped them away. “Shh. Don’t upset yourself. I’ll take care of you, little sister. And Victor will take care of us both. Once Robert is dead the bond between you two will be broken and ours will re-form. You shouldn’t have slept with him, but I’ve seen him and can’t say that I blame you. Too bad he’s not one of us.”
The pounding in Chelle’s chest came over her all at once and suddenly she was wide awake, the sedative taking a backseat to her sudden burst of energy. Robert’s mother had been right. Someone had come to harm the person closest to her. These people wanted to kill him. She couldn’t let that happen. The tips of her wings began to push through her skin but not fast enough. Lindsay realized what she was doing and grabbed a syringe from the bedside table.
With one fluid motion she uncapped it and thrust it into Chelle’s neck, pushing down on the plunger and emptying it into her jugular vein. Chelle screamed. “No!”
It only took a few seconds before the curtain of darkness began to come down on her again, and Chelle felt her wings retreat back into her body as it did. “Easy,” Lindsay said. “You have nothing to worry about. We’re going to keep you safe until we’re back in New York.” Taking the pillow she propped herself up near Chelle and lay with her head on her new sister’s shoulder, hugging her at the waist. “Everything will be ok from now on. Once we’re all together we’ll be a family, like we were supposed to be. Victor will fix this. He’ll fix it all.”
Fix it for himself and fix it for Lindsay, not for her. “Robert…” Chelle murmured as she was pulled down into unconsciousness. “Lindsay, you can’t let him die. Please, please, help… me…”
***
Robert rushed into the house hoping to see Chelle. Surely in the last two hours she’d have found her way home. He’d been stuck in traffic as everyone finally disbanded downtown. What a day it had been. He couldn’t wait to see her, to put his arms around her and hold her, to kiss her, and if she was willing, to take her back to bed. He was needing her physically and emotionally right now.
He wandered through the house calling her name and looking in each room, but he didn’t really have to look because his body told him that she wasn’t physically in the same space as he was. The house was devoid of her presence, but as he walked into the kitchen he realized it wasn’t totally empty. Sitting there at his kitchen table, sipping a cup of tea, was a man. Beyond the kitchen Robert could see the back of the house. Billie’s car was sitting there, and yet Billie wasn’t here, just this man.
The hair on the back of his neck stood up as their eyes met. “Who are you?” Robert said, taking a step forward, ready to defend himself and his house if need be.
“Hello, Robert,” he said standing to his full height. He was easily six feet, which made him perhaps an inch shorter than Robert. Dressed in a suit so navy blue it was almost black and lacking any hair he spoke with an English accent. “I’m Victor.”
Fear twisted at his insides and when Victor took a step toward him he knew he was in trouble. “Chelle’s not here and she’s not coming back,” he lied.
“Oh…I know. She’s back at my hotel and has decided to join her sister and I in New York.”
There was no way she would decide on that. She wouldn’t leave him, not willingly. All of the blood rushed to the surface of Robert’s face and he found himself screaming in anger. “You’re lying. You better not have hurt her or I swear…”
Victor put his hands up, taking a step toward him once again. “Relax. You know, for a human you have a wonderful protective instinct. If anything had happened to me before I could have gotten to my daughter I’m happy to know that she’d have had a protector like you. Not that you could have done anything to really protect her, not from any serious enemies anyway.”
Robert’s fists balled up at his sides, his urge to punch the man rising. “Where is she? I want to see her.”
His face softened suddenly. “She’s asked me to come get you so she can say a proper goodbye. You want that don’t you?”
Robert didn’t like the idea of going off with Victor. He didn’t trust him but figured it would be his best chance to see Chelle. If indeed she had decided to leave perhaps he could talk her out of it. “Of course,” was all he could think to say.
“Good. Let’s get in the car, shall we?”
“Victor, where did you get that car?”
“Oh, I didn’t have one and so a new friend offered to lend me theirs. They also told me where you lived. So friendly around here. It’s very refreshing from the rudeness of New York, believe me. I’m sure it will be a bit of a culture shock for Chelle, but she’ll get used to it.”
“Billie gave you her car? How do you even know her? Where is she?”
“She’s close by, not to worry. All will be explained.”
***
Convincing Robert to get in the car had been easier than he’d hoped. He was prepared to kill him right there in his own house if he didn’t cooperate. Whatever he had to do to break the bond and as long as he was dead that would be the desired result. But there was something more. Victor wanted to use him to make a point. Chelle would have to learn, just as Lindsay had, that he was her father and he was in charge. Any attempt to get away or behave undesirably would result in these types of consequences, and it was better that she learned that now.
Robert opened his mouth to say something, but Victor quickly quieted him. “No questions,” he said, his voice becoming stern. “I’ll turn around and you won’t get to say all those things I know you’re burning to say.”
Victor closed his eyes for a moment as the car came to a standstill at a stoplight. He licked his lips and looked directly at Robert once again. “She thought you were having an affair, you know. You and Chelle. That’s what Billie thought. It’s too bad you broke it off with her so abruptly because perhaps she would have given you a second chance.”
Robert said nothing. No reaction at all. He had to hand it to him, he could certainly control himself. Victor was playing with him of course. Even if Robert were to have survived this night there would be no getting back together with Billie. She was dead in the trunk of the car from having taken his insertion tool to her neck. While it could be used to inject the procreation fluid, it could also be used to extract information. Of course on humans the catch was it also extracted their lives.
***
Lindsay draped a blanket over Chelle and tucked her in. She wanted her to know upon waking that she’d been taken care of, and that she’d always be taken care of. She opened the suitcase she’d brought with her and sighed. Bringing more clothes should have been a given. When Chelle woke up she’d probably want to take off that outfit and she looked to be about the same size. Lindsay smiled wide at the thought of that. She remembered the joys of trading outfits with her human sisters all those years ago and was ecstatic at the chance to do it again.
She selected a plain white tee shirt and some jeans, along with fresh undergarments and lay them on the chair by the bed for Chelle, then sat down on the bed once again to stare at her. She just couldn’t get enough of looking at her. This was the most exciting thing that had happened to her in well over fifty years.
Just then Vic
tor’s swipe card sounded in the door and it swung open. Lindsay jumped off the bed to greet him, hoping for news of when they could finally take Chelle back to New York. Their apartment there was secure and so she wouldn’t have to be tied up, that would give them a chance to get to know one another better.
Lindsay was about to bombard him with questions when she realized he wasn’t alone. Robert was with him. Instead of killing him he had brought him back to the hotel room. “What’s he doing here?” Immediately she regretted her tone and Victor let her know he was displeased with a simple look, as always. “What I mean to say is, why is he still alive?”
Robert’s eyes widened at the question and at the same time he saw Chelle tied to the bed. He rushed over, ripping the blanket off and began trying to rouse her, shaking her shoulders violently. “Chelle? Chelle!?” When he got no response he looked as though his entire world had fallen apart. Victor had always told her that human males didn’t really care for the females, they just acted as though they did to get what they wanted, but looking at him now she was beginning to question that belief. He actually had tears in his eyes.
“Wake her up,” Victor said, pulling Robert off her as he extended his enormous wings. He had the strength of them flowing though him now and picked Robert up like he was a rag doll and held him by his waist. “And you, get on your knees,” he said to him. Robert put his hands in the air and got to the ground, slowly, his chest heaving in panicked breaths as he did. “We have to show her what the situation is here.”
Lindsay knew exactly what he was talking about, and it pained her to think what that would do to Chelle. “Victor, is that really necessary? She doesn’t really have to watch does she?”
“She does. I can’t have her being insubordinate. It would hurt us all. Lindsay, you’ll just have to trust me on this.”
With a heavy heart she nodded and grabbed another syringe from the night table drawer. This one filled with a stimulant. Lindsay shot it into Chelle’s arm and within a few seconds they all watched as she came around. When Chelle awoke to the sight, Lindsay could see she was horrified. Immediately she began shaking and trying to get away. She was still woozy however so her efforts were for naught. “Please, Lindsay,” she gasped as she struggled. “Don’t let him do this. If we’re really sisters you wouldn’t want him to hurt the man I love.”
***
Chelle could feel her wings stir inside her back, just under her skin, wanting to assert themselves and protect Robert. The sedative was still in her bloodstream however and whatever she’d been given to wake up just wasn’t doing the job all the way. Her only hope would be to convince Lindsay to help her, but if she couldn’t do that she had to stall Victor until she could help him herself.
Victor had Robert on his knees with a hand on either side of his head, ready to snap his neck like the frail human that he was. Chelle knew how little effort that would take and a fear the likes of which she’d never felt before coursed through her body. She knew she wasn’t just feeling her own, but Robert’s as well.
“Victor, why are you doing this? Just let Robert go. I’ll go with you, I’ll go anywhere you want. Do anything you want. Just please, don’t kill him.”
“I’m afraid it’s not that simple. I’d like to leave him alive, really I would. Any father wants to give his daughter everything she wants, but as any good parent will tell you, there’s a line. When something isn’t good for one of my girls I have to say no. I risk looking like the bad guy, but trust me, in the long run you’ll have a much easier time without him. If only you hadn’t mated with him he’d be sitting at home even now. But you did and when you did that you bonded with him and un-bonded with us. Now we have to break that bond and this is the only way. Once he’s gone we will re-bond, all three of us, and you’ll feel much better. I promise.” He tightened his grip on Robert’s head and dug in the nails on the end of his long spindly fingers to his cheeks. “Then, finally, I will have my Legion.
It was about to happen. Chelle was about to watch as Victor murdered Robert right in front of her and her wings were still struggling to emerge. Her last and only hope was Lindsay. Turning back to her once more she said, “Please…Lindsay…sister…”
Something changed in Lindsay’s eyes and both of them realized it. Victor was too caught up in what he was doing to notice. “It’s time to leave your humanity behind, Chelle. Robert will take it with him when he goes.”
“I love you…” Robert gasped
Suddenly Lindsay’s beautiful blue wings emerged and she flew across the room, surprising Victor, knocking him off Robert and onto the floor. Before he had a chance to steady himself and get up, Lindsay was on him, using the blades in her wings to cut him anywhere she could. He tried to protect himself by grabbing her arm, but he was half a second too late and instead of grabbing the arm, he got in the way of the wing. His arm fell to the floor with a clang, and Lindsay, who now seemed possessed, was fighting him, pummeling him with her wings and screaming. It was a scream that came from somewhere so deep and dark inside that Chelle was sure the entire city could hear. She wasn’t just fighting to protect Chelle or Robert anymore. She was fighting to protect herself, to avenge herself. The anger pouring out onto Victor was her own.
Victor’s great white wings came around and threw her off him, sending her flying across the room and cutting her face and torso as she did. Bleeding and backed up against the wall, Victor took a run at her, his arm extended and going for her throat. He wouldn’t get the opportunity however, because at the last second Lindsay extended the longest blade her wings had to offer and Victor ran himself directly into it, skewering him through the heart. The blade broke off inside him and Lindsay screamed in pain as Victor fell to the floor, dead.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Robert was trying frantically to untie Chelle but wasn’t having any luck. The wires Lindsay had used were too tight and too sharp for his hands. They were cutting into him and had already cut pretty deep into Chelle’s wrists and ankles. “Robert, are you alright?” she whispered.
“Yes. I’m fine, thanks to Lindsay. Are you ok?”
“I will be.” He cupped her face in his hands for a moment, looking at her as if seeing her for the first time in years and kissed her, both of them crying happy tears.
“We’re never going to be apart again. If I can ever get you untied that is.”
“Let me,” Lindsay said, her voice quivering. Once her blades had sliced through the wires and Chelle was free she sat, her back to them and drew in her wings, lowering her head and weeping over Victor’s body. Chelle went to her, Robert helping her as she stumbled slightly, still a woozy from the drugs. “I killed him,” she cried. “I killed my own father, the one who created me.”
“You did the right thing,” she whispered, drawing Lindsay in close to hold the weeping, broken woman in her arms. “He was a dangerous man.”
“Perhaps, but I’m not bonded to anyone now. I’m alone.”
“You’re not alone, you have me. You have your sister now, remember?”
Lindsay cried even harder, as if that were the worst news she could possibly hear. “But you are bonded to him. And I am bonded to no one. Without Victor…”
Chelle turned Lindsay to face her. “Listen to me. You’re going to come home with us and we’re going to figure all of this out. It’ll all be ok. I know you’ve been through a lot and so have I, but we’ll figure it out together.”
Lindsay hugged Chelle close as tears continued to stream down her face. “Chelle, thank you. You’ve given me more love in a few moments than Victor gave me in a lifetime.”
Standing, she turned to face the window as her wings emerged once more. Suddenly Chelle was frightened. “Lindsay, what are you doing?”
Lindsay gave no answer. She simply took a deep breath and hurled herself out the window. Chelle tried to stand but fell again and Robert ran to her, helping her up as they stepped over shards of broken glass. “She’s up there,” Robert said pointing skyward.
They watched in the darkness as Lindsay flew up, up, up. Her beautiful blue wings took her up like a rocket and when she was almost out of sight instead of flying off, she simply drew them in, taking them back into her body one last time, leaving her as human and fragile as anyone else. Now she was falling, plummeting toward the pavement hard and fast. “Robert, my wings...”
Both of them knew what they were about to witness but they were helpless to stop it. Chelle’s wings were non-functional and Lindsay was about to fall to her death. “There’s nothing you can do,” he said.
“But…”
“Don’t look, Chelle,” he said turning her away from the window. “Just don’t look.”
A moment later there was a massive thump just outside and Chelle fell apart, sobbing in Robert’s arms.
***
The sun was coming up when he had finally gotten Chelle home. It had been a mercilessly long night by the time the police had been called and everything had been sorted out. It had been ruled a kidnapping and the perpetrators were dead. That was that. She had taken off the pressure suit, showered and fallen into bed next to him. He felt like he could sleep a hundred years and when they both woke the next afternoon he felt like he had.
Being near one another had helped them heal from their physical and emotional turmoil the night before. Although it would take years to fully digest what had happened, they woke up whole and mostly happy that they were once again within close proximity to each other.
He smiled at her, pulling her body as close to his as he could and as their skin made contact they both sighed with relief. He was so overjoyed that he couldn’t help but blurt out what was on his mind. “Fly away with me,” he said.
“I’m tired of flying, for now anyway.”
“On a plane, silly. You’ve never been on one. You’ve never been anywhere. Let’s go down south. Let’s go tonight.”
She laughed. How he loved that sound. “You’re forgetting I’m a poor waitress. I can’t afford that.”
Blackbird Page 23
