“It’s whatever, really.”
“C’mon, Pry. It’s me,” he says.
“Look, if Aaden wants a harem, then fine. He can have a million girls. I don’t care,” I reply.
“Wow, so angels lie too huh? Cool. I’m gonna write that down.”
“Very funny.”
“No, I mean it. I’m keeping a record of our adventures, like a true sidekick,” he informs me.
So my bitterness and jealousy will be on record; oh joy...
I hear a knock on my door. My dad asks if he can come in.
“Randy, I gotta go. Just please stay inside and don’t—”
“Run with scissors, or crack my head in the bathtub?” he jokes.
“Just be careful,” I reply as I hang up.
My dad enters and sits beside me on the bed.
“I lost my temper and I shouldn’t have; I’m sorry,” he says.
“Okay,” is all I can manage to say.
“You were right, we did raise you to protect humans and care what happens to them.”
“But I can’t save Randy?”
“No, because Randy’s death is part of a bigger picture. He’s going to die because he was meant to live a certain amount of years and his time is up. It’s not fair. And it hurts, but it is what it is. You don’t have to like it. Your mom and I don’t like it either. But we don’t get everything we want. No one does.”
“So that’s it, my friend dies and I have to suck it up?”
“Yes, Pryor, that’s it. But sweetheart, you’re not alone in this. It’s okay to be sad and to mourn for him. You love him.”
“You make losing people sound so easy, like it’s no big deal, Dad.”
“I think you know that’s not true. It never gets easier to lose people you love; humans or otherwise. Not a day goes by that the Guardians don’t mourn our fallen members. We grieve every day. But we have to accept it.”
What if I can’t accept it?
“You and Mom never asked me why I didn’t show up to the Atu,” I reply, distant.
“No, we never did.”
“Why?” I ask.
“I went into your room that day, after you didn’t show up, and I saw the journals of our past mission on your bed. You were reading and stopped at page eighty-seven. We knew that’s what stopped you from leading your own team. Page eighty-seven would stop many of us.”
“Does that make me weak?”
“No, Reesie. It makes you...a girl with a lot of heart.”
“I really tried to get past page eighty-seven but I couldn’t,” I confess.
“I know, but one day, you’ll get to the next page and then the next chapter ,” he assures me.
“How?”
“When you’re a leader, no matter what happens you have to keep going. That is your job. You find a way to keep going.”
“What helped you do that?” I ask.
“Your mom. In the end, she was all I had...”
“And you fought for her. Randy’s all I have, Dad. And I’m sorry, but I’m going to fight for him no matter—”
“They found the Alexi birds,” my mom says as she bursts in.
“Where were they?” my dad asks.
“Completely off course,” she replies.
“But Alexis don’t get lost,” my dad reminds her.
He’s right. Alexis are immortal birds that have a perfect sense of direction.
“Marcus, I’m telling you the Alexis were found miles from where they should have been,” my mom insists.
“That doesn’t make sense,” my father says to himself.
“It gets worse,” she says.
“What do you mean?”
“All the Alexis that went missing were found—dead.”
********
The next few moments everything happens at once. My parents are getting calls from every member of the Guardian team, seemingly all at once.
“Hey, Jay, I heard. Emmy just told me,” my dad reports.
“Miku, I’m sure Swoop is fine. She always comes home a little past curfew,” my mom assures her.
“No, you’re right. We need to meet up and find out who’s doing this,” my dad confirms.
There’s a note of alarm in my parents’ voices. They are trying hard to conceal it as they speak to the others. They pace up and down the living room as they try to formulate a theory about the death of the immortal birds.
All of the noise and commotion wakes Sam up. He sticks his head between the bars of the railing and calls out for my mom. She goes up the stairs, picks him up in her arms, and cradles him at her side.
Meanwhile, I text the group and everyone but Swoop responds. Knowing Swoop, she’s safe but won’t reply until she feels like it. According to the others, their households are frenzied too.
“Does anyone know what’s happening?” I ask East over the phone.
“No, but all the angels on my block are taking to the air,” he says.
“If you find out anything let me know,” I reply.
“I will. And if Swoop calls, tell her to call Key, she’s worried.”
“Worried or pissed that Swoop won’t reply?” I ask.
“Both.”
I hung up my cell just as something out the window catches my eye. I go in for a closer look and a scream escapes my mouth before I can stop it. My parents run up to my room just in time to witness the unbelievable sight: one human just jumped off the roof across the street.
The human didn’t hesitate or pause in the least. He just walked off the roof and jumped to his death. We look out and a second man is about to do the same. I’m frozen in shock, but my mom places Sam in my arms, smashes through the window, and takes off into the air. My dad immediately follows her. They try to catch the second human before he hits the ground.
My mom reaches the guy just in time. I lean far enough out the window so I can get a good look and I see something even more incredulous. There is another human on a different roof a few yards away, and she too is about to jump.
I tell Sam to stay in the house, then I head out the window. Once in the air, I make my way towards the lady, who has now taken the final step before her fall.
“Hey stop, please don’t do it!” I shout.
She doesn’t even look at me. She just steps off the roof and tumbles down the side of the building. I cut though the air as fast as I can, the wind whips and whirls around me. I have never flown this fast in my life.
“Gotcha!” I say breathlessly as I snag the lady by the hood of her jacket just before she hits the pavement.
“Pry, can I play too?” Sam shouts as he takes off into the air.
“No, Sam. Go back in the house. I caught the lady so the ‘game’ is over,” I reply.
“What about the others?” he asks.
What others?
I place the lady on the ground and fly up to where Sam is hovering. That’s when I see them—there are humans on every rooftop of Manhattan. They are jumping to their deaths one by one without making so much as a sound.
Before I can register what’s happening, a flash of bright orange light catches my eye. I turn towards the light and watch in horror as a couple standing at the gas station douse themselves with gasoline.
Oh no, please no...
Both my parents and I take off towards them but we are too late. They light a match and set themselves on fire. My dad manages to smother the flames but the humans are charred beyond recognition. We look around, and all over the city humans are dying by their own hands.
“I can’t freeze them,” my mom shouts to us.
“What the hell is going on?” my dad replies.
“We don’t know, but it’s happening all over the world.”
We turn and find the rest of the Council standing cloaked and hooded before us. Time and Fate hover several feet in the air as they address us. To be honest they always did creep me out—the robes, the deep dark voices, and the impossibly bright light emanating from them.
&nbs
p; “Who’s doing this?” my mother asks the Council.
“I can’t make out a face,” Fate replies as he looks in his mind’s eye.
“It’s as if someone is speaking to them,” Time replies as he studies the humans around us.
My mom holds out her hands and Pulls a human off the roof. The human, still in a zombie-like state, stares out into nothing as his body is air lifted towards her.
“Who is talking to you?” Time asks, adjusting his complex voice patterns so that the human can process it.
When the human replies his voice is soft and distant.
“All,” he says.
“What is ‘All’?” Time asks.
Then every single human around us turns and replies in unison.
“ ‘All’ is the start of the end; the darkness that will swallow any remaining light. All does not reason. All does not forgive.”
Then, offering no more explanation, the remaining group of humans leap silently to their deaths. Finally after several attempts, the Council is able to freeze humanity. The humans are frozen mid-fall.
“I don’t understand; who is this ‘All’ being?” I ask
“He’s the new evil,” Fate announces as his eyes glaze over with a milky white haze.
I’ve heard about Fate getting flashes but I have never seen it in person.
“What does he want?” my dad shouts angrily.
“You know what he wants; he wants to meet her,” Fate says, looking at me.
What?
My parents look over at me and concern fills their faces. I’ve never seen them so terrified in my life. My dad quickly comes towards me and places me protectively behind him.
“He will never see her,” he vows.
“Marcus, you were told about this before. You knew this new evil was coming,” Fate says.
“He is causing this havoc all around the world because he doesn’t know where she is. Once he does, he’s coming for her. He will kill the other Norus certainly, but his obsession is with Pryor,” Time replies.
“Me?” I ask, dumbfounded.
“You didn’t tell her?” Fate shouts at my parents.
“We warned you to tell your children—” Time begins.
“Marcus and I talked it over and we decided against telling the kids before it was absolutely necessary,” my mother informs them.
“The new evil is not like the others before him. He is far more powerful and you know how he got that way, Marcus,” Time scolds.
“Please, Dad, tell me what’s going on. Why is this new evil different than the evil before?” I beg.
My parents exchange a look of concern and my mom signals for my dad to address me. My dad looks at the floor and rubs the back of his neck as if he’s in pain or soon will be. Whatever they are about to tell me is causing them great stress and hesitation.
“We have wanted to tell you since we first found out, but...”
“Dad, c’mon, just tell me. Who is this new evil?”
“His name is Malakaro; he’s your brother.”
CHAPTER FIVE: LITTLE BOY LOST
My father just hurled a Powerball at the center of my chest. That’s exactly what it feels like. His words tear through my skin and embed themselves into my flesh like shrapnel. Pieces of the “bomb” gather together and aim straight for my core—my heart.
My parents are breaking my heart... Why? Why would they hurt me?
My parents are talking to me. I can’t make out what they are saying because the grenade they just threw in the middle of my life has made me all but deaf. Their mouths are moving, but they are on mute. I look into their faces and realize I don’t know them at all.
Yes, my mom and dad got on my nerves sometimes but all in all we were happy. I knew they loved Sam and me. I knew that we could trust them. And no matter what happened, they would never hurt us.
But I am; I am hurt. There’s pain coming from a place so deep, I didn’t know it ever existed. I have been wrong this whole time. My parents aren’t protecting me from pain; they are the cause of it.
Suddenly, I look at the two strangers standing before me and I want nothing more than to get away from them. The thought of being in the same space with them for another second is more than I can take. I need to go. I need to go now.
I bolt down the street without saying a word. My parents weren’t expecting that. They thought if anything I would take to the air, but I need to find what they took away from me—solid ground.
I hear them calling out after me desperately but I don’t stop. I run so fast the city landscapes are no more than a blur of colors. I have no idea where I’m going and I don’t care. I just need to keep running until I make it back to the life I had ten minutes ago. If I just keep running it will stop hurting.
You can outrun this pain, Pry. Just keep running.
But I can’t keep running because the strangers took to the air and now they are blocking my path.
“Reesie, please let us explain,” my father begs.
“Stay away from me,” I shout.
“Pryor, sweetheart, we love you. We just wanted to save you from—”
“Mom, please get out of my way.”
“Pryor, just give us a chance to explain,” my dad begs as he walks towards me.
“NO! Please, Dad, let me go; please.”
He’s about to argue but then he looks into my eyes. He signals that I can go. I take off into the sky.
“How could you let her go, Marcus? She’s devastated,” my mom shouts at him as she takes off into the sky after me.
He follows her and gently holds her back.
“Emmy, let her go. It’s what she needs right now,” he tells her.
He holds her tightly and they watch as I fly away...
********
“The new evil is my brother! I don’t even know how to...I mean how do they...ARGH!” I roar as I stomp on the ground.
Randy watches as the pavement cracks beneath my feet. He’s still taken aback by how strong I am.
“Pry, I know we hate this school, but let’s leave it intact, okay?”
It’s been half an hour since I woke Randy and told him what was happening. Thankfully, he had slept through the humans falling from the rooftops. He headed to the football field at school. It’s after midnight and no one else is around.
“How could they do this to me? How could they lie to me for fourteen years!”
“Well it’s not exactly an easy thing to bring up,” he reasons.
“Are you taking their side?”
“No, I’m just saying it’s not exactly dinner conversation.”
“The whole time they’ve been preaching about how important it is to be moral and honorable angels; it’s all been a lie. Who knows what kind of mess they got into? I mean, what else are they keeping from me?” I ask.
“You had no idea at all?”
“No. I bet they didn’t even write it in the Muse.”
“What’s that?”
“A Muse is a journal that chronicles past missions.”
“ And not once did they mention it there?” Randy pushes.
“I’ve never read all of it. I started to but I couldn’t get past page eighty-seven.”
“What’s on page—”
“Never mind that. Randy, what am I going to do? Everything is different now. How am I supposed to hate my own brother? Then again, he killed dozens of humans tonight. How can I overlook that?”
“Do angels go to therapy?” he jokes.
“Randy!”
“I’m sorry; curious human here,” he says, putting his arm around me.
“I don’t know anything anymore. Is Malakaro my mom’s kid or my father’s? Which one of them cheated? Are there any more Norus I don’t know about?”
“Normally ‘sibling I didn’t know about’ should be at the top of my list of concerns. But I have to say, it’s not,” Randy confesses.
“I’m sorry. I know you’re worried that we won’t find Oden, but we will. You
’re not going to die,” I promise him.
“Pryor, that’s not what I’m talking about. This new evil sounds...well, really freaking evil. And from what you’ve told me this psychopath has it in for you.”
“Yeah, my day just keeps getting better,” I quip.
“You have to go home and talk to your parents.”
“I can’t even look at them right now.”
“Then wear a blindfold because you need answers and they are the only ones who have them.”
*******
Randy insists on coming with me, so after a quick stop at his apartment to change, we head back to my house. The closer we get, the more dread I feel.
“How come everyone on the street is acting normal now?” Randy asks.
“I’m sure the Council had their minds wiped. East and others like him who can take away memories, must have been working all night,” I reply.
“There are no ambulances or anything.”
“Angels are great with cleanup.”
“That’s so cool,” he replies.
“We’re here,” I say, mostly to myself.
My house looms ahead of me. I’ve always loved coming home. I’ve always felt safe and secure there. Now, I would do anything not to have to enter the house. Randy, sensing my hesitation, takes my hand and we head inside.
When we walk in, I find my parents pacing the floor, waiting anxiously for my return. I try to fight the urge to flee. Randy is right; I have questions that only my parents can answer.
“So which one of you cheated?” I ask.
“That’s it, Pry, start with something easy,” Randy says sarcastically.
“Honey, no one cheated,” my mom says as she takes a step towards me.
I take a step back.
“Randy, could you give us a minute?” my mom asks.
“Sure, I’ll go say hi to Sam,” he replies.
I’m about to protest but Randy signals to me that I should let him go. I watch reluctantly as he disappears upstairs.
“Honey, have a seat,” my dad says.
“I don’t want to sit. I want answers,” I reply.
“Pryor, sit down,” my mother says in a tone that tells me they are no longer asking.
I sit on the edge of the sofa, interlock my fingers together and place them nervously on my lap. They sit on either side of me.
Voracious Vixens, 13 Novels of Sexy Horror and Hot Paranormal Romance Page 97
