Inception

by Teal Haviland

  Lucas felt the car gun forward as Javan sped through the school’s parking lot toward who knows where. As the school slipped away behind him, any hope of human intervention slipped away with it. He was on his own to deal with two demons and no telling what else. He couldn’t see the speedometer, but Lucas thought they were going fast—so fast he felt there was no way the natural world could create that speed.

  He wondered how many miles of his former reality they’d already left in their wake.

  “What the hell did you do to her?”

  “Easy. She’ll be just fine as long as you do exactly what I ask of you tonight.”

  Lucas looked back at Gabrielle. He thought he saw her trying to open her eyes. Fear gripped his insides even more. He had to do anything he could to save her. He steeled himself, not wanting to let her down.

  “What do you want me to do?”

  Javan snickered caustically. “That was easy. You must really think you love her. More than that, you must really think she loves you.” He snickered again, this time heartier.

  “What would you know about love, Javan? You gave her up. For what? Selfish desires? Yeah … I love her. And I would never willingly give her up like you.”

  “Stupid human. You have no idea about anything you think you know.” Javan paused. “But you didn’t say you know she loves you, too. So maybe you’re not so stupid after all. Tell me, are you starting to feel as inferior and unequal to her as you are? I bet you’re feeling her slip away from you.”

  Silence filled the car—an uncomfortable, telling silence. Lucas was sure Javan knew he’d struck a nerve, and he would apply as much pressure to it as he could.

  “Lucas, let me help you out here before you get in any deeper. You have no way of being what she needs for any real length of time. You see that, don’t you? You’re just a human. You’re mortal. She’s not only an angel, she’s one of the most powerful angels Yahuwah has ever created. Do you have any idea what that means?” Javan let loose a disgusted laugh. “Why am I asking? Of course you don’t. Like I said, you’re just a lowly human. It wasn’t that long ago your kind believed the Earth was flat—idiots. You don’t have the capacity in your tiny minds to understand beyond the thoughts Yahuwah allows you to have—which isn’t much.”

  “That’s all true, Javan. But He apparently didn’t think much of you, did He? I think you just hate humans because you’re jealous,” Lucas ended in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “Jealous? Of what? What do humans have I’d be jealous of, Lucas? What do you have that I don’t?”

  The superiority that Javan felt was apparent in his tone. It seemed to drip from his mouth as he spoke. Lucas’s pulse rose from his anger even more than from his fear.

  “That’s easy—we have God’s forgiveness. Since you can never get back into Heaven again, my guess is forgiveness isn’t something He’ll offer to you. Am I right?”

  It was Javan’s turn to sit in silence. Lucas wondered if he was doing so not only out of frustration, but also out of the need to calm himself so he didn’t throw Lucas out of the car to his death.

  When Javan did speak, Lucas could tell by his tone that he was stifling his anger. Lucas felt a sense of victory in knowing that he’d gotten to the demon, but he knew that feeling was also probably going to be short-lived.

  “Let’s get down to business, Lucas. Here’s what you’ll do if you want to keep Gabrielle alive. It’s simple. Get a book for me and place it safely into my hands.”

  Lucas considered what was being asked of him. It sounded simple. Lucas wondered what kind of book was so important to him. A feeling of dread passed through him as he considered the possibilities.

  “Why don’t you get it yourself? Why do you need me?”

  “Your only concern should be Gabrielle’s safety. Do you not care what happens to her?”

  “Of course I care. I just don’t understand why you have to use me to get a book if it’s as simple as you say.”

  “Again, it’s really not your concern. I will tell you, though, that what’s easy for you isn’t as easy for me or any of my kind. So, you see, I do need you. And I had to make sure you needed something from me, too. Gabrielle. It’s a win-win, Lucas.”

  Lucas tried to look out the window of the car, but the tint was so black that he couldn’t make anything out. He glanced back over to Gabby. He was getting more concerned. She hadn’t made any movement for a while, and the only sound she made was an occasional low moan.

  Mara looked at him, and the sight of her eyes glowing that creepy shade of chartreuse made him shiver. Was the girl he’d originally met still anywhere in there?

  “Don’t worry, lover. She’s still breathing—for now.” Mara smiled an innocent smile as if this was a sick double-date. As if he and Gabby weren’t living what may well be their last night.

  “What do you say, Lucas? Are you going to be the champion for your angel in distress? Or are you going to let her die?”

  “I’ll do what you want,” Lucas answered. He had no way to save Gabby and not do what Javan wanted. Javan knew what the answer would be before he asked.

  “No hesitation—valiant. I’m sure Gabrielle would be touched by your bravery, but only for a little while. She’d continue to grow tired of you.”

  It sucked that Javan was probably right. It didn’t matter, though. Not while she needed him. Right now, all that mattered was making her safe, again.

  “Even if I knew she was going to grow tired of me, Javan … I love her. I’ll do anything I can not to let her down.”

  Lucas couldn’t see Javan’s face but was sure he’d see a triumphant, smug smile if he could. He hated being so weak, and he seemed to be increasingly surrounded by others with epic strength and abilities—making that weakness even more apparent.

  Javan was right; he was just a lowly human. Now that he knew it, he wished it could be changed. But he couldn’t see how he would ever be anything more than a simple mortal or how Gabrielle could ever continue to want him.

  “Where are you taking me?” Lucas asked in a defeated tone.

  “New Orleans.”

  Lucas tried to make himself more comfortable, but it wasn’t working. It was no surprise that bondage wasn’t conducive to relaxation. He sighed heavily and closed his eyes anyway. Sleep wasn’t something he thought he’d actually achieve, but he didn’t want to see the inky view outside the car’s windows or the creepy glow of Mara’s eyes every time he tried to look at Gabby.

  As soon as his eyes closed, though, he felt the car slowing—and he was sure they were descending.

  “We’re already there? How? New Orleans is at least a seven hour drive.” He opened his eyes and tried to see out the window he was resting his head against, but all he saw was the same ebony expanse of nothingness.

  He heard Javan snicker again as the car settled. “Like I said, you have a tiny mind, Lucas.”

  Javan got out of the car and closed the door. By the time he opened Lucas’s, Mara had freed him from his bindings, and Javan had a vice grip on his arm again. When he emerged into the night, he had to shield his eyes until they adjusted; even though the moon was temporarily behind a low cloud, the light was still brighter than what he’d grown accustomed to during the car ride.

  Once he was able to open his eyes and focus on the surroundings, there was no mistaking New Orleans. Javan had parked right beside one of the city’s famous above-ground cemeteries.

  CHAPTER SEVENTY-FIVE

  GABRIELLE ~ THE COVEN

  Gabrielle didn’t know what the Qalal might be up to or if they were after Lucas, but she wasn’t going to wait to see if they made it all the way to where he was. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe they were brazen enough to attack. Or maybe they were positioning themselves to strike when there were less witnesses.

  Gabrielle had already moved to intercept them as she went through the different possibilities, and it wasn’t until she was closing in on their location that she stopped and realized she’d left Lucas unprot
ected—unprotected when he thought she was watching over him. She weighed the danger and decided again he was probably safe with so many others around even if she wasn’t right outside. She started toward the Qalal, once more.

  Lucas is safe, but someone else might not be.

  He wasn’t the only human she was supposed to protect, and the Qalal were acting too erratic to do nothing.

  Drawing closer to them, she noticed a glow of yellow and orange leap from the ground ahead of her. The Qalal had stopped as suddenly as they’d begun to move and did so just outside the glow.

  The yellow and orange light was from a bonfire, and six Qalal now surrounded it. They remained unmoving in the cloak of blackness, undisturbed by the light cast from the billowing flames. Within the circle of light was a group of teenagers.

  They were in mortal danger. They were far enough away from any other human eyes that an attack on them wouldn’t be seen. The closest house was at least two miles away, too far for their cries for help to be heard.

  Her thoughts went back to Lucas again, but right now, he wasn’t the one in danger. The ten unknowing teens, laughing and drinking beer, oblivious to the advance of the silent predators around them, were. The Qalal were so close that the teens nearest to the edges of light would have been able to feel their breath if the Damned actually had need of pushing air in and out of their mouths—mouths that were used for something more lethal.

  Gabrielle sensed something moving up behind her—quickly. She swung around in time to recognize the erratic energy of another of the Damned. She raised her hand, about to attack, when it halted about twenty yards away. It proceeded to circle her slowly—like a wildcat waiting for its chance to pounce.

  “You know, angel, you have no right to strike. We haven’t done anything to warrant your attack,” the Qalal said. “You should remember the rules your Lord binds you to follow when dealing with us.”

  “I forget nothing, Qalal. I need no reminder from you. But one move from your friends, and I will be happy to hold up the end of the bargain Yahuwah made with your kind—with a swiftness.” Gabrielle took in the appearance of the female who circled her.

  She was quite beautiful. Her hair was as long as Gabrielle’s, but unlike her almost black shade that blended into the night sky, the Qalal’s had a red hue that glowed like an ember in the moonlight. Her skin was pale against the night’s shadow, and her deep red eyes filled with contempt as she looked at Gabrielle as if she was this Qalal’s enemy even before this encounter.

  “Do you really think you can take on so many Qalal at once?”

  Gabrielle almost laughed. “Without a doubt.”

  The ground beneath the Qalal’s feet trembled, causing her to spring back. She looked down, then back at Gabrielle. The Qalal showed a glint of white teeth between lips parted by a smile.

  “You’re no ordinary angel—are you?”

  “There are none of Divine blood you should ever think of as ordinary. Do so at your own peril. It makes no difference to me what befalls a rogue Qalal or any of her coven.”

  “Ooh … harsh.” The Qalal was beginning to circle again. “What makes you think it’s my coven?”

  “You approached me for confrontation. Only the highest member of a coven would have the feeling of power that would cause them to be comfortable with an angel fixated on them. You think you can take me.” Gabrielle smirked. “I know I can take you. Your followers are too smart, or you’re too foolish. Both are probably true. So many times, the smart ones stay in the shadows of those who want to shine the brightest.” Gabrielle paused and closed the distance between her and the female Qalal by half. “Did you know a star shines brightest right before it dies?” She waited for a response that didn’t come. “You haven’t been a Qalal for long, have you? Little more than a few hundred years would be my guess.”

  “How can you tell?”

  “Your kind are slow to learn.”

  Gabrielle could tell she struck a nerve. The woman’s smile turned into a sneer accompanied by a guttural growl. Gabrielle was amused to have rattled the young Qalal so easily. It only showed her youth and inexperience.

  “Do you have a name, or would you like me to call you Damned?”

  “Cecily.”

  Cecily glared at Gabrielle as the two waited for the other to make a move. Gabrielle didn’t care for most Qalal, especially those obviously not interested in regaining their soul. Cecily definitely seemed to be the kind she liked least, and there was something about the look in her eyes that told Gabrielle that something was particularly off about her.

  Cecily cocked her head slightly, allowing the light from the moon to catch a pendant that hung from the choker around her neck. Gabrielle tried to see it better, thinking it looked like the one that Ka’awa and the demons at Yosemite wore. Cecily shifted, blocking the light again before she could be sure.

  “You know my name … are you going to tell me yours?”

  “Gabrielle.”

  Cecily laughed loudly enough that the teenagers quieted. After several moments, they resumed their partying.

  “The Gabrielle?”

  “I suppose so.”

  Cecily stopped circling “I’ve heard a lot about you. From one of your kind, actually.”

  “Really? And who would that be?”

  “Just a mutual—friend.”

  “I don’t believe any of my kind who would speak to you about me would be classified as my friend, Cecily.”

  “Well—maybe he’s more like an ex-friend. If you have to be so technical about it.”

  Gabrielle was growing tired of the chitchat. “Since I really don’t care much about who you’re friends with who I was once friends with, how about we move on to what you and your coven are intending to do here tonight?”

  Cecily bent over in laughter. When she returned upright, Gabrielle caught something else in her eyes that hinted to her that she wasn’t going to like where the conversation was heading.

  “Oh, no. On the contrary, I think you would be interested in this particular old friend who is now a very good friend of mine.”

  Gabrielle sighed. She wished she wasn’t bound to guidelines concerning Cecily’s kind.

  “Enlighten me.”

  “This particular friend was once much more than your friend. Much, much more.”

  Gabrielle felt the crush in her heart again. She didn’t have to hear his name. There could only be one she could be speaking of.

  Now, it was her turn to be rattled.

  Gabrielle didn’t say anything for a moment. Cecily seemed to be more than happy to let the information, and its meaning, seep in without interruption.

  Javan had certainly made the rounds, and as much as she didn’t want it to, it hurt her deeply. It didn’t seem to bother him at all to be with anyone that crossed his path, making her feel she never really mattered to him at all.

  Why does he seem to want me back so badly? Am I just a challenge? A trophy?

  After several long moments of her thoughts twisting with the hurt she felt trying to surface, Gabrielle was finally able to regain her composure and break the silence.

  “Tell Javan hello. But back to the matter at hand. What’s your intention with these humans?”

  Gabrielle was hoping for the worst so she could do whatever she wanted with Cecily. The other six Qalal held steady in their positions, not making any move toward the fire or the humans huddled close to it. If they did, she’d have to take care of them before she could turn her wrath on Cecily. The lives of the teens were more important than her personal vengeance.

  Gabrielle was suddenly struck by the track her thoughts had taken. Why did she care whether Cecily had been with Javan? She certainly wasn’t the first female he’d had trysts with, and she was now sure there were many, many more.

  Obviously, he has no desire to spare my feelings in any way.

  She tried to shake off her desire for revenge, not wanting her decisions to get muddied with emotions.

  “W
e just wanted to join their little party.”

  “That wouldn’t be advisable. I don’t think you would do well resisting your urges.”

  “Maybe not. Or maybe we’re trying to change our ways. You know, regain our mortal souls and such. Regardless, you can’t stop us from being around humans, Gabrielle. Even you can only interfere if we’re going to kill one.” Cecily looked toward the bonfire. “Or ten.”

  Gabrielle hated that Cecily was right, and her hue began to take on a hint of red.

  “So, Gabrielle, are you going to baby-sit us all night? Or are you going to just trust we aren’t going to have a midnight snack?”

  Staying all night to watch the coven wasn’t an option. She looked at the position of the moon, now well above the horizon, and could tell immediately she’d been gone longer than she’d intended. She’d have to call in some of her troops to oversee the Damned so she could get back to Lucas and still ensure the safety of the teenagers at the bonfire.

  Just as she was about to call to them, Cecily spoke again. “How about I make the decision easier for you?”

  “And how are you going to do that?”

  This time when Cecily spoke, it wasn’t quiet, and it wasn’t to Gabrielle.

  “NOW!”

  Gabrielle threw up her hand to pause human time and keep the Qalal from attacking. The effect didn’t work. They were still moving toward the now frozen teens. Gabrielle immediately released her hold on time so that the humans could react and descended upon the first Qalal before he even broke the shadow’s edge that mingled the darkness of Halloween night and the glow of flames. She was sure he didn’t even know his head had been torn off. She tossed it the length of a football field and threw his body just as far in the opposite direction, putting as much distance between the two until she could dispose of him permanently. Even as quick as she was moving, she noticed a black stone pendant reflecting the flames as it fell to the ground.

  She produced a disruption in the air just inside the circle of the fire’s light and thrust it outward with more force than a bomb’s repercussion, sending the others in the coven flying far enough that she’d have time to deal with them all one by one.