Dark Angel's Ward

by Nia Shay

  "I'm training to become a field agent."

  "Field agent?" I repeated blankly.

  He snorted. "Damn, you guys in the dark angel division really are behind the times, aren't you?"

  "Seems your secret society isn't just for the sons of God anymore."

  I snapped my head around at the sound of Cara's voice, which came now from the doorway. Her short hair lay flat against her scalp, making her look smaller somehow. She wore bright bandages too, one on each arm. Electric purple and lime green, they glowed against her pale skin.

  She came to perch on the edge of the bed, half beside and half behind me. "Apparently, ever since they made it to the New World, this Fairlight Society's been expanding the ranks to include psychics, telekinetics, ghost whisperers--the whole nine yards," she continued. "Turns out our little J.J. here is a psycho meter."

  "Psychometrist," he corrected primly.

  I couldn't have been more lost if they'd been speaking Greek. "What the hell is one of those?"

  "I can sense psychic residue through touch," Jordan explained. "Traces left behind by the people that have touched an object before me. Images, emotions, sometimes even their actual thoughts."

  "That's how he figured out where you were being held," Cara added.

  "What?" I turned uncomprehending eyes on him. "You saved us?"

  He squirmed under my gaze, looking abashed. "The Society saved you. I just helped point them in the right direction. It was sheer dumb luck, too. The bastard who kidnapped Sara tied her up with the phone cord, after he'd made a call to his boss on your phone. It's a good thing he hates his boss so much, because his anger left such a strong impression that I picked up on it just by touching Sara's wrists."

  "Right before you planted a big sloppy one on her."

  Now Jordan actually blushed, though he managed a glare for Cara. "I was happy you guys were all right. Both of you."

  "You didn't kiss me."

  "Um...guys?" I interrupted. Jordan immediately held up the water cup again. This time I did slap it away--it was mostly empty, anyway. "Listen, I need to know...."

  "Right, where were we? Yeah. Anyway, after I figured out the kidnapper had made that call, I got in touch with my facilitator. He ran your phone records, got the number for one Hermann Briggs, triangulated his cell phone signal, and sent in an extraction team. And voila! Here you are, safe and sound."

  Cara snorted. "That was quite possibly a world record for the most words ever spoken in a single breath."

  I had to agree. It took me a minute to process all of it. Jordan hadn't mentioned getting Zeph out. Only me. And they'd found us by...I couldn't hold back a hysterical giggle.

  He frowned. "What's so funny?"

  "The cell signal," I choked, tears streaming down my face with my laughter. "Zeph made me ditch my phone because they could trace us with the GPS. He was right. I was pissed, but he was right. And Airrr-mahn was too stupid to know any better."

  Cara's hand landed on my shoulder. "Listen. About Zeph...."

  "No." The word tore at my raw throat.

  She frowned. "No what?"

  "No no no no no." They were going to tell me now that he hadn't survived, and I couldn't bear to hear it after all. If I didn't listen, I could pretend it wasn't true.

  "Jade?" Jordan peered at me critically. "You okay?"

  "No!" I threw my head back, smacking hard into Cara's collarbone. She grunted at the pain, but otherwise didn't complain. She just slipped an arm around me and supported me while I sobbed.

  "Shit. What do we do, Care?"

  "I think you'd better call them again." Her tone was grim.

  Sara's voice preceded her through the door. "Call who?"

  Cara's head swiveled toward her twin. "What took you so long? You said you'd be right behind me."

  "Sorry. This thing isn't exactly user friendly." A metallic clatter followed her words, along with a string of muttered curses.

  I turned streaming eyes in the direction of the noise, finding Sara's face at a level with my own. She was angling awkwardly up to my bedside in a wheelchair. "What happened to you?" I choked.

  "Nothing, nothing happened. I'm fine." She laid a reassuring hand on the small patch of my forearm that wasn't riddled with IV needles. "Hospital policy, that's all. They didn't want me walking around right after giving blood, but I wanted to see you. Why are you crying?"

  "Zeph...." I could only gasp his name before my throat closed up tight.

  "Zeph?" she repeated in a questioning tone. At my watery nod, she said, "He'll be along soon. The doctor got hold of him before we could make our escape, so he sent me on ahead."

  "Y--you mean he's alive?"

  "Of course he is." Sara turned an incredulous scowl on the others. "What the hell have you two been telling her?"

  "Nothing," Cara retorted. "I thought she knew."

  "So did I." Jordan crouched beside Sara, one arm encircling her shoulders as he met my gaze. "I'm sorry, Jade. I thought you'd know he was okay. You're the one who saved him."

  "He died," I said hollowly. "He was dead."

  "Nope. Not quite."

  I shook my head. "He put his soul inside me and his body was cold. You can't get much deader than that."

  Jordan shrugged, looking bemused. "Well, according to the extraction team's report, they found Zeph sitting up holding you, and you were in full arrest. He told them you'd given your life to save his." He took a deep breath before continuing, his voice half an octave higher. "The medics tried shocking you to get your heart going again. Your blood pressure kept dropping, but no one knew why. You only had a minor wound."

  I knew why. Zeph had probably told them, too, but they hadn't understood.

  "Anyway, they were getting ready to inject you with epinephrine when Zeph started singing, and everyone stopped dead in their tracks. Except the guy who wrote the report, obviously--he's a psychic. He said the whole team's brain waves changed in a heartbeat, like they'd all just fallen into a deep sleep on the spot. At the same time, your brain activity started to increase. You stabilized just a few minutes after that."

  I only half listened to him, lost in my memories of that time--drifting in the darkness, the fading whispers, the thunderstorm that had torn through the silence. Through it all, Zeph's song had led me back to my body, back to life. Maybe these doctors and so-called psychics didn't understand what had happened, but I did. I wondered if I should bother trying to explain it.

  "So...he's all right?" I asked tentatively.

  "I wouldn't say 'all right,'" Cara replied sourly. "He was only slightly less dead than you at first. He's just recovering faster thanks to his monstrous appetite."

  Understanding dawned on me suddenly. "That's why you're all wearing bandages? You've been donating blood for him?"

  "'Round the goddamn clock. He eats like a tapeworm."

  "Ignore her." Sara rolled her eyes. "Yes, we've all given blood a few times, and so have a couple of the staff members. He's regained a lot of his strength."

  I frowned. "The doctors...they're feeding him the blood?"

  Sara nodded calmly, as if this was common medical procedure. "They tried a transfusion first. It didn't help nearly as much."

  "But why are they...how did they even know...?"

  "This is a private hospital," Jordan replied. "Society owned and operated. They're used to unusual patients here. Though I think you and Zeph will be the subjects of case studies for years to come."

  "Oh," I said vaguely. "But where is he? Why isn't he here with me?"

  "You're still in ICU, sweetie." Sara gave my arm a light squeeze. "They moved Zeph to a regular room three days ago."

  "Three days?" I stared at her. "How long have we been here?"

  "It'll be two weeks, tomorrow."

  "Two weeks?"

  She nodded. "That's why the doctors are so weirded out. You weren't in a textbook coma, you've just been in a normal sleep pattern all this time."

  "Zeph told them you needed the re
st," Jordan added, "so they've pretty much left you alone, except for the monitors."

  "See, Jade?" Cara said brightly. "You're now officially a freak even by scientific standards."

  "Hush," Sara scolded. "I think I hear someone out in the hall."

  "Oh, good. That'll be your man." Cara patted my shoulder. "You gonna be all right, fearless leader? I assume you two will want to be alone."

  "You don't even know if it's him." Though with my heart suddenly pounding double time in my chest, I could certainly suspect.

  "Of course it's him. Who else would it be?" She gave me a final hug and stood. "Make the most of the down time, okay? We'll try to hold off the doctors as long as we can, but once they figure out you're awake, they'll be beating down the door to probe you."

  "Oh, that sounds delightful." I sighed, just as a tall figure appeared in the half-open doorway.

  "Jandra."

  For a long moment I could only stare at him, framed there like a replay of his appearance outside my office at Dissonance. Even gaunt and hollow-eyed, he was still achingly beautiful. The hesitant smile on his lips sent my tears spilling over again. "Zeph...."

  "It's all right now, love." He came to me and took my hand in his. "Don't cry."

  I squeezed his fingers tight. "Oh, Zeph," I wept.

  "I think that's our cue to leave, y'all," Cara stage-whispered from somewhere off to my right. "Stop gawking, you sickos."

  Distantly I heard the squeak of Sara's wheelchair and the click of the door closing, but my world had narrowed down to the man in front of me, to his grip on me that seemed my only anchor to reality. The bed creaked as he sat down beside me. "It's all right," he whispered again. His free hand twined through my hair.

  "I love you, Zeph," I gasped between sobs.

  "I know you do." I was crying too hard to see his expression, but joy colored his words.

  "No you don't, because I didn't tell you," I moaned. "And you died, you died and I didn't tell you."

  "I'm not dead. I'm right here." His arms snaked around me, pressing me close to his side as if to assure me of it.

  "But you were." I sniffled into his shoulder. "We both were."

  "Perhaps so, but it doesn't matter anymore. Everything's all right now."

  What the hell? First Jordan and his psychic buddy had denied it, and now Zeph didn't believe me either. And it did matter. I didn't know quite how or why, but the fact that we'd shed our mortal coil seemed terribly important. Not to mention everything most certainly wasn't all right now. "Did you hear all that stuff Markus said?" I asked him. "Back before you got...back at my house?"

  "I heard enough," he replied grimly. "I'd only thought I understood the Society's crimes against my brethren."

  "There are two Societies now," I interjected. "Haven't you heard?"

  He nodded. "So it would seem. One righteous, and one profane."

  "Who'd have guessed we were backing the wrong pony all these years?" I couldn't help giggling, and wondered if I might perhaps be a bit delirious.

  Zeph apparently wondered, too. "You should lie back and rest while you can. Cara was right, the doctors will indeed be out in force once they learn you've woken."

  "Okay. But you'll stay with me, right?"

  He hesitated, as if unsure of his welcome. I suppose that made sense. I'd kept him out of my bed at every other opportunity of late. "I want you with me, Zeph." I held out my left arm to him--it was relatively free of tubes. "Now and forever."

  "Do you mean that?" he whispered.

  I rolled my eyes. "No. I dragged you back from the jaws of death just so I could have the last word."

  A smile broke over his face. "Now that I believe."

  "Seriously--just shut up and kiss me."

  He did, squeezing my fingers as our lips met. Then he rounded the bed and slid carefully onto the mattress beside me. I settled my head on his chest, reveling in the steady drum of his heart against my cheek. "I love you," I told him again.

  "I love you, too, my Jandra."

  For the first time in a long time, I wasn't inclined to argue over his use of possessive pronouns. And even if I had been, I felt too damn drowsy to bother. "So what are we going to do now?" I murmured, letting my eyes slip shut. "We have to do something...something about...." Hell, there were too many somethings for me to pick which one to tackle first.

  "Don't worry now. We can talk about it tomorrow."

  "Hmm? Why tomorrow?"

  "Because it will be another day."

  I rolled my eyes up at him. "You totally blew your lines there, Scarlett."

  Zeph laughed, and it was the most beautiful sound I'd ever heard.

  Thirty-Three

  It wasn't as bad as I'd always thought, my little suburban nightmare. It could almost look cheerful in the right light, with the afternoon sun striking prisms off the picture windows. The hostas lining the front porch were still in bloom, their violet petals turned to the sky like trumpets to herald the final days of summer.

  Gah, had I really just thought that? Maybe absence really does make the heart grow fonder. Or maybe I'd finally lost my mind completely.

  Meh. Whatever.

  Zeph's grip tightened protectively on my elbow as a vehicle drew up to the curb behind us. I wasn't worried. I knew who to expect without even turning, no preternatural senses required--I recognized the thrum of the engine. The characteristic slam of the driver's door confirmed it.

  "Yo, boss."

  "Hey, kiddo." I greeted her over my shoulder. "I'm not your boss anymore, you know."

  Zeph smiled as she approached. "Hello, Cara."

  "Hey, Zee. You're looking good. Finally." She stepped up beside me, ruffling my hair. "And you! Love the new 'do. I'd ask what possessed you, but...."

  "Yeah. That really isn't funny anymore." I smoothed down my newly shortened locks a bit self-consciously.

  Memory had possessed me in those endless days I'd languished in the hospital. Thank goodness I'd hibernated for those first two weeks, because afterward I hadn't been able to sleep for crap. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw a pair of baby blues staring back at me. Brax hadn't haunted my dreams again, but that hadn't helped me forget a damn thing. And one afternoon, after waking from a fitful nap, I'd remembered the tattoos he'd claimed we both bore on the backs of our necks.

  I don't know what made me go looking for it. Perhaps I expected some sort of closure. I'd been drifting in and out of denial over the whole test-tube-baby thing for days, preferring at times to believe it had all been some terrible mistake. That I was as human as I'd always believed myself to be, despite the lie the mirror told me every time I looked at my reflection.

  Hell, I could see it even now in Cara's expression as she looked me in the eye. Because they weren't my eyes anymore. The gentle mossy green I'd always known had morphed into a color as pale and exotic as the jade I'd named myself after. The same color as the light that had burned from them when the Divine Will had driven me.

  That fact had made it easy enough to reject Markus's claims about my nature, at first. I could pretend I was just an ordinary mortal who'd been altered by some supernatural force. I'd held strong to that belief for about a week. Then, in one of my rare moments alone, I'd fished a pair of scissors out of a first aid kit and begun hacking away at my hair like...well, like a woman possessed. Zeph had come in to find me kneeling in the middle of the floor, half bald and hysterical.

  He'd said nothing, simply taken the scissors away from me and finished the job as best he could. Then he'd held up a hand mirror for me, so I could see what he'd found. It was there all right, just where Brax had told me it would be. JAN•D•RA, scrawled in ugly-green tattoo ink in a casual hand, the same way one would label leftovers for the freezer.

  Zeph had held me while I'd cried. And chased away the doctors when they'd come with their instruments and questions. And kept my crowd of well-wishers out of the room while I'd smashed the mirror to bits against the side of the bed, which hadn't made me feel much be
tter. And he'd taken me to a salon just yesterday to have my hair salvaged by a professional.

  I had to admit, the new 'do was kind of cute. The back had been beyond repair, so the stylist had trimmed it down with clippers even shorter than the twins'. She'd layered what length I had left, blending the sides and front into a sweeping wedge that tucked under my chin. Mercifully, she hadn't asked why my hair looked like I'd caught it in a garbage disposal. And when she'd asked about the tattoo, I'd simply replied, "Make sure it shows." I was through with secrets.

  "So, where are you two going to go now?"

  I glanced up at Cara's question. She lounged against the realtor's sign, batting at the hanging tag that cheerfully proclaimed the property Sold! Her eyes were downcast so I couldn't see her expression, but I could sense her sadness.

  I sighed, knowing my answer wouldn't improve her mood. "We're going on the road for now. We'll take a little downtime while Intelligence picks apart the facility's reports, but as soon as they have a direction to point us in, the hunt is on."

  "It's important," she said, though whether she was being sarcastic or trying to convince herself, I couldn't tell.

  And I couldn't help but answer back. "Yes, it is. We don't know how many more of these psychos are still running loose. Or if there are any other Watchers left alive--Markus can hardly be considered an unbiased source of information. And if they're still holding the captive angels...." Any one of whom could be my biological father....

  "Which they surely are, unless they've already killed them," Zeph finished as my voice faltered. "They need our help, too."

  "Yeah, I know." Cara flashed us a crooked smile. "The whole damn world needs your superhero asses more than I do. Doesn't mean I have to like it."

  I looked her over, frowning as I realized how much she'd changed in the past few weeks. I'd been too caught up in my own recovery to notice she'd lost even more weight than I had. Her layers of makeup couldn't quite conceal the shadows under her eyes. It couldn't see it being just from the physical strain she'd gone through helping nurse Zeph back to health. Jordan and Sara had already bounced back and were none the worse for wear. Speaking of which....