by Noree Cosper
But not if I had anything to do with it.
“Heal him, then harm me,” I said.
“What? Gabby, no,” he said with alarm.
“What other choice do we have? I will come back. He won’t.” I shifted a bit. “Besides, I will probably die, or at least lose my arm, once this rock is removed.”
“Crush Syndrome. I was afraid of that.” He stared down at his brother, his expression hidden in the shadows. “All right, fine. But if you don’t come back, I’m going to be pissed.”
I laughed. “I’ll be sure to watch out for you on the other side.”
“Marge, pull him closer to Gabby. I’m going to have to do this at the same time.”
“You people are crazy,” she said.
“You’re not the picture of sanity,” I said. “While I’m gone, dig me out. I don’t want to awaken with a crushed arm.”
After a few moments, Tres laid his hand on my chest. “This is going to hurt, a lot.”
“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m used to pain.”
I’d felt the warm tingle of Tres’s healing before. This was nothing like it. All my cells felt as if they were trying to devour each other. My flesh ripped apart under his fingertips and my heart tightened. I choked on my blood filling my lungs. Shadows covered my vision and I jerked up as I reached the threshold of pain. Then, I touched oblivion.
Chapter 18
The walls of the church shake around me, hard enough to rattle the windows and dislodge the dust in the rafters. I walk the aisle towards the female figure standing in front of a statue on a dais. There is another rumble. I grab the back of a pew to keep my balance. The statue teeters, and she lays her hands on it to steady it.
She turns my direction and I catch my breath at her face. I’ve seen it hundreds of times, but it always pulls at my heart as well as other places. It’s angelic, which, given the circumstances, should make me wary. She has smooth skin over high cheekbones and slightly tilted violet eyes. Her full red lips spread into a smile.
“Greetings, daughter,” she says.
“I’m not your daughter,” I say.
She pouts. “Don’t be obstinate. I’m the only one standing between you and the Fates.”
The building shakes again, as if to emphasize her point, and she raises her gaze to the ceiling. I grip the pew tighter and look up as well.
“Now, what have you done to garner such attention?” she asks.
The memory of Tres’s hand on my chest and the pain that followed fills my thoughts. So, the Fates claim whoever he kills. If Adrian lives, it’s worth it. The woman—no, the devil—smiles wider.
“You have found me someone special, like you,” she says.
I stiffen, my breath catching in my throat. I’d held her attention enough for my curse to continue for nearly five hundred years. What would she do if she got her claws into the brothers? I straighten my shoulders.
“If the Fates are a danger, you should give me over to them,” I say.
She laughs. “You know better than to think I’d give you up so easily.”
The building shakes so hard, one of the stained-glass windows shatter.
She tilts her head and her voice echoes through the church, leaving a ringing in my ears. “She is mine and you withered husks do not have the power to contend with me.”
The shaking ceases.
She looks back to me. “I’m sure you have something important to do in the living world.”
I back away from her until my shoulders touch the double doors. She waves me away and turns back to the statue.
As I leave, she says, “We will see each other in the flesh soon.”
The first breath I took burned all the way through my lungs. I convulsed in a fit of coughs and sputters. A cacophony of voices filled my ears. The pounding in my head increased. Lights flashed in swirls and people moved in blurred outlines.
A shadow fell over me and someone placed their hands on my shoulders. “Lay back, miss.”
“Impossible,” another voice said. “I checked her pulse.”
“Well, you were wrong,” the first voice said. “Let’s get her on a stretcher.”
“Naamah’s coming.” I couldn’t stop her name from leaving my lips.
I closed my eyes and welcomed unconsciousness.
Chapter 19
I awoke to the steady beep of a heart machine. The hospital bed I lay in was slightly elevated. The “clean” smell hang in the air, as if trying to cover the stench of blood and death. I groaned and sat up, pulling the I.V. from my arm as I shook my head, trying to rid myself of the haze that filled it.
I stood slowly and straightened up when dizziness hit me. The lack of the usual lightheadedness that accompanied my waking after my death meant I’d been unconscious for a while. Where were the others? Had Adrian and Tres survived if the Fates could take me? I needed to get out of here and find everyone else.
A stack of neatly folded clothes lay in the chair beside the bed. They were clean and missing any of the rips. Someone, probably Lucy, had been kind enough to bring them.
I dressed in the jeans, sweater, and boots. My wallet and keys were missing. The nurse probably had them. The hall was relatively empty of people. I bit my lip and paused. No Esais meant I couldn’t find the others with the ease of his telepathy that I’d become accustomed to over the past few months. To make matters worse, my phone was probably buried under four stories of rubble, as was my sword. I needed to find a nurse.
“Excuse me, what do you think you’re doing?” a woman’s voice said behind me.
I turned. The woman stood in the doorway of one of the rooms I’d passed with her arms crossed over her white lab coat. Her brown hair was pulled back. She had coffee-colored skin and her dark eyes were narrowed at me.
“I’m actually looking for friends of mine,” I said. Not a nurse, but a doctor. Either way, she might be able to help.
She studied me from a moment. “You’re Gabriella Lucco from room 304.”
I rubbed the back of my head. “Well, I’m feeling much better. I think I can check myself out, doctor.”
“Dr. Harrison,” she said. “And I will be the judge of whether you’re fit enough to leave.”
“So, what do I need to do?”
She pointed to the room I’d just left. I sighed, then trudged back inside and sat on the bed with my arms crossed. She came in a few minutes later, followed by a nurse. She pulled out a stethoscope.
“Please lift up your shirt,” she said.
The shock of cold metal on my skin made me jump a little. “This is just a formality, isn’t it?”
She smiled as she continued to check me over. “The paramedic on the scene swears you were dead for at least ten minutes. I found nothing wrong with you. In fact, there were no injuries on any of you except for Tres and the woman Marguerite.” She paused and bit her lip.
“You know Tres? What’s wrong with him?” I asked.
“He’s volunteered here several times over the past few months,” she said. “I’m surprised he doesn’t have a practice. He’s very talented.”
“What’s wrong with him?” I asked again. My whole body tensed.
She stared at me, a frown forming on her dark lips, and she spoke in a gentle voice. “He’s in a coma. Like you were. Though, now you seem to be in perfect health.”
“How long was I unconscious?”
“Around seven hours.”
“What about Marge?”
“Minor wrist fracture, thank God.” Dr. Harrison chuckled. “I don’t think I’d want to deal with her as a long-term patient. She’s enough as a visitor for Tres.”
I stared at my hands, my breath catching in throat. Tres was still out. Had Naamanh’s defense against the Fates backlashed to him? I closed my eyes and swallowed hard. Maybe there was a way to make things right. I just needed some time to stop Sariel, however I could do that.
“So, I’m free to go?” I asked.
She held her hands wide. �
��No reason to keep you.”
“Where’s Tres’s room?”
“328 down the hall and to the left. The nurse will have your paperwork when you’re ready to check out.”
I nodded and headed out of the room. My boots squeaked on the polished floor. At the intersection, a familiar figure caught my attention as it rounded the corner.
“Viktor,” I called, jogging to catch up with him.
He looked back. “Oh, I didn’t know you were awake. I just saw Tres.”
“How is he?” I asked.
He shrugged and looked at the ground. “Still unconscious. I saw what happened and came as soon as I could. I was worried about Esais…”
“He wasn’t caught in the collapse.” I paused, debating on how to put the next part. “Esais isn’t himself at this time.”
Viktor gave a snort. “Tell me about it.”
“If you see him, you need to contact me.”
“I’m not sure that’s wise, given the circumstances.”
I stared into Viktor’s eyes. He was a nephilim, like the others. Sariel could have already been in contact with him. Viktor had probably fallen under his power like the others.
He looked away with his jaw tightening. “I need to go.”
I grabbed his sleeve as he started walking again. He wasn’t getting away that easily. I would have answers and he was the only person I had.
“What do you know about Sariel?” I asked.
He jerked, and his eyes widened. He shook his head and hurried toward the elevator. “You shouldn’t ask questions like that.”
“So, you do know him. Where is he?” I quickened my pace to keep up with him.
“And what do you plan on doing when you’ve found him? He brought a building down on you.”
“We’ll figure out something, but I need you to tell me what you know.”
“How? What can you figure out? Tres is in a coma, and he’s Esais’s brother. You think Sariel cares what happens to you?” He punched the elevator button and rounded on me. “Honestly, Gabby. You have nothing. You should take your friends and go.”
“Why? What is he planning?”
“Gabby,” Lucy called behind me.
I looked at her. Her arms were crossed in a self-protective stance and her eyes were red from crying. Standing slightly behind her was a middle-aged man in a gray suit. When I glanced back, Viktor was already in the elevator. The doors closed before I could put my hand in. Damnit. I punched the button, but the doors didn’t reopen. Where were the stairs in here?
“Not now, Lucy.”
“I don’t think this will be able to wait.” Lucy’s gaze slid to the man beside her.
The man cleared his throat and stepped forward. His blond hair was slicked back, which pronounced his receding hairline. He was large, but more barrel chested than fat.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet sized leather folder and flipped it open to reveal a badge. “Detective Anderson, NYPD. You are Ms. Lucco, correct?”
“Yes.” I lowered my hand from the elevator buttons and turned his direction, glancing at Lucy. “What about it?”
Anderson pulled out a small pad and pen. He flipped the pad open. “First of all, what were you doing when the building collapsed?”
“I was asleep,” I said. “I woke to a massive shaking as everything collapsed underneath me. I think I went unconscious in the fall. I think I woke with paramedics, but I don’t really remember.”
He raised a brow. “Do you often sleep at the office during the day?”
“We are a detective agency,” I said. “My hours are normal hours and sometimes I stay over at the office instead of going home.”
Anderson flipped through several pages. “Right, the Van Helsing Organization. Hey, isn’t that out of that vampire book?”
“Is that an actual question you want me to answer?”
He studied me with narrowed eyes. “What sort of cases were you working on?”
“Several various ones,” I said. “You know, surveillance of cheating spouses. What does this have to do with the building’s collapse?”
“You never know if you have enemies.”
My heart sped up at how close he was to the truth, but I barked out a laugh, trying to sound as if the thought was ridiculous. “You think someone did this? Come one, if I had an enemy I think there are several better ways to kill me rather than demolishing an entire building.”
Anderson shrugged. “Just trying to suss out what happened. Speaking of dead… from what I understand, the paramedics pronounced you dead, but then you sat up.”
“They were wrong,” I spread my arms wide. “Here I am.”
“Yeah, pretty healthy for someone pulled out of a collapsed building.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. “I was lucky, I guess. Honestly, you should be looking at the structural integrity of the building.”
“Just covering all the angles, Ms. Lucco.” Detective Anderson closed his notebook and pulled out a business card for me. “Please call if you have anything else you might want to add.”
I pocketed his card and glanced at the elevator. We were on the tenth floor. After that distraction, Viktor would have made it down to the ground floor by now. I pushed past Lucy and rushed into the stairwell. I didn’t have much time to catch up to him.
Lucy trailed after me. “Gabby, where are you going?”
“I need to catch, Viktor,” I yelled as I continued my mad dash down the steps. My footsteps rang through the stairwell.
I hit the ground floor, burst through the stairwell door, and sprinted down the hall towards the lobby, pushing past nurses and patients. The lobby seats were filled with people, injured and uninjured. A line had formed at the reception desk where the front desk nurse was talking on the phone while handing a clipboard full of paper to the man in front of her. I paused as my breath came in swift pants and glanced around. No Viktor.
The double doors slid open as I ran up to them and I hurried outside, the chilly air stealing my already short breath. I bent over, resting my hands on my knees as I scanned the sidewalk and street. Cars sat back to back, inching forward every few seconds, while men and women walked past me, giving me sidelong glances. None were Viktor.
I’d lost my only lead to Sariel.
Chapter 20
Lucy met me on the second floor during my trudge back upstairs. She leaned against the railing on the landing between two flights of stairs, panting.
“What was that about?” she asked.
“Viktor,” I said. “I lost him.”
She sighed and her shoulders slumped. I nodded up the stairs and we climbed back to the tenth floor. Lucy led me to Tres’s room.
I swallowed the lump in my throat at the sight of him lying pale against the white bedsheets. Adrian leaned against the wall near the window with his face its usual emotionless mask. However, his hand gripped the back of a nearby chair so hard that his knuckles were white. Jonah sat in a chair beside Tres’s bed with a stack of papers in his lap. Weariness has pronounced the wrinkles in his forehead and at the corners of his eyes. Marge slouched in another chair with her legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. Her arm was bound in a cast which she rested on her stomach. Her porcelain skin had become paler and dark shadows rested under her eyes.
Jonah nodded at us. “Good to see you are awake. I only hope Tres joins us soon as well.”
His gaze fell upon the youngest Van Helsing brother and my chest tightened. Even my death hadn’t been enough to protect Tres from his gift while saving his brother. I glanced at Adrian, but he was staring out the window. Lucy moved to sit in the chair Adrian’s hand rested against. She stared at Tres and bit her lip.
I cleared my throat. “I hope so as well. But we also have a few other things to worry about.”
“Esais?” Adrian said.
“The angel possessing him has him for seven days. I think it has plans it wants to bring into fruition during that time,” I sai
d.
“What is this thing?” Jonah asked.
I looked to Adrian and Marge. “Did you tell them?”
“What I knew,” he said.
“That the thing fucking killed me and brought me back,” she said.
“It severed your contract,” I said.
Marge scowled. “I think it could have done that without killing me, though.”
“Why did it?” Jonah asked.
“I think it wanted to force Esais into making a deal to give control of his body to it,” I said.
With halting words, spoken barely above a murmur, I explained what had happened in the office and who Sariel was. Lucy’s and Jonah’s eyes grew wider with every passing word.
Lucy gave a low whistle. “Like my reading from a month ago.”
I nodded. “The signs were there. We just thought it was connected to Faust and the demons.”
“What now?” Adrian asked. “How do we kill it?”
I shook my head. “I’m not sure we can.”
Adrian blew out a derisive breath. “Nonsense. Everything can be killed.”
“Maybe,” I said. “I don’t know enough about angels to say for sure.”
Adrian gave a short laugh. “Esais had information on them. It’s now under tons of rubble. Along with most of my work, including the tracker and a weapon I was working on in case this situation came up.”
“You planned for an angel taking over your brother?” Marge snorted. “You could have said something.”
Adrian glared at her. “No, I expected the nephilim to be a problem.”
“My sword is most likely buried as well, unless anyone found it.” I looked around at the group hopefully.
Jonah shook his head. “Sorry, my dear.”
My shoulders slumped, and I sighed. “It’s all right. It wouldn’t have worked against nephilim, anyway.”
