Angel's Bend

by Dale, Lindy

  “I’m going to study all day, so I can have the night off.”

  Abbie placed two glasses of iced water on the table and bent over, flipping her books open. Then she sat down next to Lacey. “You’re such a swat.”

  “You used to be, too.”

  “Mmm.” Ignoring the comment, Abbie opened up her copy of Wuthering Heights to the chapter Lacey had asked her about and pushed it towards the other girl. Pencilled notations filled every corner of the margins. Words and thoughts that Lacey would never have been able to dream up on her own. Abbie had such insight. Her mother must have done some pretty serious home schooling on her. She’d never seen even a quarter of this information in class.

  “Do you want to walk to school in the morning?” Abbie asked.

  Lacey raised a brow. Abbie was avoiding work and they both knew it. She looked up from the book. “You can have the gang and get good marks, too, Abs. You don’t have to give up every thing to be a rebel.”

  “I could, but the thing is, I’m not sure what I want any more. I don’t think university is the place for me. So why do I need to study?”

  “I thought you wanted to be a doctor.”

  “Not really. That was more my mother’s dream for me, I think. I took it on because I didn’t know any better.”

  “So what are you going to do? It’s only weeks till we finish for good. You have to have some sort of plan or you’ll miss out on a place if you do change your mind.”

  Abbie’s index finger fiddled with her lip. “I don’t care. I just want to be with Ty. Have his babies.”

  Oh my God. She couldn’t be serious. They were seventeen not thirty.

  “Does Ty know about this?” Lacey could already see the dust kicked up from his departing shoes after he heard that little gem. Ty was a party boy. He wouldn’t want to give up his plans to go to see the world for a steady girl and a baby.

  Abbie shrugged again. “I did mention it.”

  “But he wasn’t keen?” It was like stating the bleeding obvious.

  “He was evasive. He wants to travel when he finishes school. Take a gap year.”

  “And he didn’t suggest you go with him?”

  “Where would I get the money to do that? Ty’s parents are loaded. He got an inheritance for his eighteenth birthday. My mum barely earns enough for us to live. And even if we did have the money, she’d never give it to me. I haven’t earned it.”

  Lacey placed her hand over Abbie’s. “Ty loves you. Under that clownish façade, he cares. You’ll find a way to sort it out.”

  “You think?”

  “I know. But I don’t think you should mention babies again for a while. You might find he’ll have a round-the-world ticket faster than you can blink. Why don’t you get a part time job and save some cash? Aunt Beth wants an extra pair of hands on Thursdays after school and the Supermarket had an ad in the window. I saw it yesterday. If you saved enough, you could go with him.”

  She didn’t want to say that she thought no amount of money would be enough. At the end of the school year, the party would be over, and while Ty clearly liked Abbie, she wouldn’t see his Converse for dust.

  *****

  Later, that night, Lacey went to the bedroom window to close the curtains. A small gust whooshed past and Cam flew down, his feet alighting on the tips of the grass. His wings, arching from his shoulders like spun silk with the moonlight on them, flapped gracefully in the evening breeze. Lacey smiled wistfully. If only he weren’t an angel. Sure, it was cool that he was, he could do so many amazing things and his wings were truly awesome, but sometimes Lacey wished he were a mere boy. A boy who could kiss her and love her, without all the other stuff going on. All this reading of minds and flying about the place was doing her head in.

  She hadn’t seen him in a day or two; they’d decided it best if he lay low so that their story would appear authentic but she missed him because of it. She wanted to tell him about the things that had been happening - Abbie’s hair, her display of bravado at the library, Zac’s sudden change of heart. She wondered if he’d discovered anything new that could help them. Mostly, she just wanted to be near him.

  “You called?” Cam’s grin was wide. He gave her a mock bow. If he’d been in her head just now, other than to answer her call, he showed no sign of it.

  She grinned back. “I didn’t call. I was only thinking about you.”

  “Same thing. Got time for a rendezvous before bed? Seems like years since we’ve talked.”

  Lacey picked up a thick jumper from the chair by the window and slid it over her slim body. She hiked a leg out the window. “I thought you’d never ask. Where’re we going?”

  “Not far.”

  Slipping his arms under her shoulders, Cam hugged Lacey to him and flew her onto the iron roof of the house. The corrugated pitch was steep and he hovered for a moment, before setting her down in a spot between the chimneybreast and the verandah. She could feel the heat from the fire in the house radiating from it and she placed her hands upon the bricks to warm them.

  “I love nights like this,” she said as she gazed out to the Milky Way, partially covered by cloud.

  Cam perched himself beside her and pulled in his wings. He breathed in the coolness of the air and gave a contented sigh. “Heaven feels very close.”

  “It does.” She had sort of come back to believing in God and love since Cam had been around. What choice did she have? He was an angel, after all. What she didn’t understand was why God would let this whole thing happen. She was a good person. Basically. Surely, He could avert the tragedy awaiting her if He was so powerful. Wrapping her arms about her knees, Lacey gave a small shiver to ward off the chill. If only Cam would hold her. Love her. Tell her everything was going to be fine.

  An arm snaked around her, pulling her close. Heat from his body flooded into her, soothing the worry from her mind. “Everything’ll be fine, Lace. God sent me to look after you and I will, I promise.”

  “Sometimes the fact that you can hear what I’m thinking is rather pleasant,” she said. She snuggled further into his side until she felt his hipbone touching hers. It was comforting. Solid.

  “I thought you hated it when I listened.”

  “I do. Mostly. But if it means you can keep me warm without me having to ask, I don’t mind so much.”

  Cam shifted closer and rubbed his palm slowly up and down her arm. Tingles of pleasure followed the trail from the tips of his fingers.

  “How’s it all going, now that we’re not ‘friends’ any more?” He’d seen Abbie around the town with her new hair and attitude. He’d heard the talk of her ‘branding’ coming up.

  “Like we thought it would. I’m popular again.”

  “Zac around?”

  “He’s being ultra charming. I’m a bit nervous about the party on Saturday, though. I mean, If I’m going to be in a house full of Satan’s followers, I may need a little more protection than the sigil and a magic spell from Aunt Beth.”

  “I’ll be outside. But I can’t come too close. If Zac senses me, it will put our plan in danger. He has to think you’re on your own now. You need to get him alone, preferably outside in a clear area. He has to reveal himself as evil or at least try to harm you in some way.”

  “What do you think he’ll do?” This wasn’t exactly what Lacey considered romantic, in the dark, conversation but she figured the more she could do to help herself, the better. If that meant having knowledge of every possible eventuality, she’d sit and listen till the sun came up.

  “I don’t know but you’re going to have to put yourself in danger. Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

  “I guess it’s the only way. You can’t kill him if he doesn’t try anything, right?”

  “Exactly. And the fact that you have Lucifer’s Mark makes it harder. If you were really to surrender to him - of your own accord and without his trickery - there would be nothing I could do. I can only save you if you want to be saved.”

  “I’m
scared.”

  “Just remember, watch your drinks, don’t let them cut you and don’t take the sigil off, no matter what. I’ll take care of the rest.”

  “Promise?”

  Cam threaded his fingers through hers. He lifted them to his lips and placed a tender kiss upon each knuckle. “I promise.”

  With a heave of her shoulders, Lacey unlocked her hand from his and got to her feet. No matter how much she liked being in the dark with him, she couldn’t stay out here all night talking about something that hadn’t happened yet. It was one thing for Cam to promise, it was another for her to put every inch of her faith in him. She didn’t have time to be blinded by her feelings. She had a part in this too and she wasn’t going to give up without a fight.

  “’Night.” With a wave and a backward glance, Lacey began small steps down the steep incline of the roof. Heights had never been her strong point. She only went to these places because Cam was there.

  “You okay by yourself?” Cam asked.

  “Fine.” Faltering, Lacey lunged back at the chimney to stop from overbalancing. It was a stupid idea, really. She should have just let Cam carry her down.

  “Wait. I’ll help you.”

  The next moment, Lacey was sliding down the hundred year old roof. Sliding, falling, her fingers searching for any small protrusion she could cling to.

  “Cam!”

  Oh hell. She was going to die. She was going to plunge the metres to the ground and break her neck or her spine. If she didn’t die, she would be destined for a wheel chair and that would be a fate worse than death. Even Lucifer wouldn’t want her then.

  “CAM!”

  “I have you.”

  Two strong arms cradled her body, snatching her from her fall, and floating her gently to the ground. “Shh, Lace, shh. It’s okay, I have you. You’re safe.”

  Lacey looked into his deep green eyes. She could feel the tension in his body, the worry that she may have been hurt. Her hand came to lie upon his chest where his immortal heart pounded so hard she could have sworn it was he who’d fallen. A solitary tear fell from his eye onto her cheek.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I think so.” Her breaths turned to trembling as he sank to the grass with her on his lap, holding her as if she were a baby, scanning her body for any wounds as he did so.

  “Thank you,” she said, at last.

  “It was nothing.”

  “You saved me.”

  “I told you I would.”

  Lacey stopped trembling. Within the safety of his embrace, there was no more need. Tentatively, her hand reached to smooth the worry from his face. Her ruby lips parted as if she wanted something more. She waited. Cam’s free hand stroked her hair, her cheek where his tear had fallen, the soft skin along her jaw. His eyes locked with hers in a gaze that held her hostage. His finger touched her lips, red with blood where she’d bitten them in the fall. He bent his head. His mouth came close to hers and he pulled her to him.

  Kiss me, she willed him. I love you, Cam. Kiss me.

  Cam’s body stiffened. He shouldn’t be doing this. He shouldn’t. “I think it’s time for you to be in bed,” he whispered against her mouth.

  Then he carried her to her window.

  Chapter Twenty One

  The Exhibition - though it was technically an exam - was to run all week but like any real artist’s exhibition, it was having a classy canapé opening and Lacey was excited, more excited than she’d been in ages. The butterflies were skittering in her stomach, playing havoc with her appetite. Aunt Beth had tried to tempt her with all manner of food at dinner but she’d been up for nothing but a piece of toast. And that was only to appease the look on her aunt’s face. She didn’t need her to think she’d added an eating disorder to her list of woes.

  At seven o’clock, they headed along Main Street and up the hill to school. Mrs Perkins had requested all the art students be present fifteen minutes before the commencement of the Exhibition to make any last minute adjustments to the arrangement of their pieces. Lacey didn’t need to be there, she’d been organised down to the last detail for days and had spent the whole of Sunday hanging her pieces and setting up the photo journals with Aunt Beth’s help. Instead, she did the rounds, keen to see how Abbie and her other classmates had gone with getting finished and what the products of their endeavours looked like. They were always so absorbed during class; they rarely had time to wander around looking at each other’s work.

  By 7.30, the school hall was teeming with parents, students and interested onlookers. Ty and a few of the gang had made an appearance to support their friends and Zac arrived some minutes after, his dark haired minions in tow. Following Zac from painting to painting, refusing to engage in the goings on around them, they looked annoyed at having been dragged from whatever it was they did in the evenings. Picking the already chipped nail polish from their fingers was a far more interesting pastime than actually lifting their gaze to take in some of the artwork.

  Zac looked cute in his trademark black. His hair was messier than usual and around his neck he wore a loosely knotted black and white checked scarf. She hadn’t seen a great deal of him in the last few days, she’d been too busy, but she’d heard from Abbie all about what he’d been up to. It didn’t sound like he ever did a scrap of school work, but then, if he were a demon, she didn’t suppose he had to. A university degree wouldn’t be high on his list of priorities.

  He came to stand alongside her. “Your pieces are awesome.”

  “Thanks. I’m pleased with them. I’ve done all I can and if it’s not good enough, then I guess I’m not meant to be an artist.”

  “If you don’t get the Art Prize, the faculty need to get their heads checked.” Zac’s manner was as easy as ever. As if he didn’t care about the thing that hung between them, that inducting a girl into a cult was something he did every day. Which he probably did.

  “You think?”

  “Your stuff is so much better than anyone else’s. It doesn’t look like Abbie even finished some of her pieces. Not being mean or anything but they suck.”

  Lacey knew what he meant and she thought it was a pity. Abbie was talented but she spent so much time with Ty, she’d hardly managed to get enough pieces ready to even participate in the showing. And the ones she had put forward weren’t an indication of what she could do. The other day, Lacey had interrupted the couple having an argument about it. Ty had a photographic memory or something, he’d said, he could put in a last minute effort and still get top marks. Abbie, on the other hand was wasting her opportunity.

  “You should say something to her,” Lacey said to Zac. “There’s still time for her to get her act together for the end of the year but someone needs to say something. She’ll listen to you.”

  “She has a mother.”

  “She’s been on Abbie’s case for weeks, Zac, even threatened to pull her out of school again but Abbie won’t listen. All she wants to do is hang out with you guys and do whatever it is you do. And with the initiation coming up on Saturday, it’s only going to get worse.”

  Zac all but rolled his eyes. “If that’s her choice I can’t stop her.”

  Lacey gave Zac her shoulder, her eyes settling once more on the painting she’d been looking at before he arrived. “You could, but you won’t. I get it.”

  Zac moved to block her view. His smile was almost blinding. His eyes dazzled her. Hints of red leapt at her like sparks from a fire. “Lets not fight, Lace. Come on, you know there’s nothing I can do.”

  Lacey shrugged. “We’ll have to agree to disagree.”

  They walked around the room for a bit, stopping to talk to teachers and parents, and checking out other students work. The choice of theme was so varied and the interpretations so different, Lacey could hardly believe she’d spent six months in the same room with these people and never noticed the talent surrounding her. It made her feel a little nostalgic, though, and not just because this was the end of school. In a couple of days tim
e, it could be the end of her.

  Reaching the supper table, Zac poured a glass of punch for Lacey and handed it to her.

  “So, you’re coming on Saturday?” he asked. “It should be fun.”

  If you call cutting each other and chanting stuff fun.

  Lacey took a sip of her drink before she answered. “Yep. I should have listened to you about Cam. You were so right. He is a weirdo.”

  Zac’s gaze was intent. She could tell he was trying to figure out if she was telling the truth but she was getting pretty good at hiding her real thoughts. From him, at least. “I knew you’d come round to my way of thinking sooner or later. You’ve been missing all the fun.”

  “So what’s the deal with this party?”

  “You know, just hanging. Listening to some tunes, playing the PS3. We might have a few drinks. Nothing major. We’ll be having a gathering later in the night.”

  Oh, he was good. He was making it sound so casual, so tempting. A big gang of friends just hanging together like normal teenagers.

  “And Abbie?”

  “My Uncle Luca’s going to brand her. He says she’s ready. He can do you to, if you like. It’s only a tattoo.” He pulled up his sleeve and moved the leather wristband away, revealing the tattoo of an eye with a tear falling from it.

  Lacey tried not to shiver. There was something inherently creepy about it. It wasn’t your usual tattoo. “I’ll have to think about that. I don’t like tatts much.”

  “No stress, nobody’s forcing you.” He gathered the twins and wandered off to talk to Ty.

  Lacey watched him leave. That was a crock and they both knew it.

  *****

  A while later, when everyone was milling around, discussing pieces they liked, catching up with people they knew, Lacey saw Cam enter from a side door. Obscured from view by the size of the crowd, he blended instantly, moving to each new piece as the group did. He looked as if he were gliding on air.