Abomination (The Path to Redempton Book 1)

by Kimbra Swain

  “Guilty,” I said. “I’m glad it’s cleaned up. I told George to send me the bill.”

  “Oh, all George did was call Ashley. She really does arrange everything.”

  “Like my whole new closet of clothes?”

  She nodded, “Just like that. You look good in green.”

  I wanted to say that she looked good in everything. But yeah, too cheesy. “So, what's the plan for the afternoon?”

  “I’ve got to get up to my office and get some work done. You have class this afternoon?”

  “No, they are in computer training this afternoon,” I said.

  “Great, you are welcome to hang out with me. I’ve got to get the emails taken care of and see what my guys found overnight about the GEA. And I’m hungry. A good time to get that delivery number.”

  “Sounds like a plan. How will I be of any help?”

  “Well if I order food, you can help me eat it.”

  “I suppose that’s something,” I admitted.

  “No, you can go through the emails with me. I want you to see it all. Let’s end this communication spell too, Adimo.”

  “Sounds good.”

  We went to her office and spent the rest of the afternoon and evening working on information that the team sent us. We focused on the GEA and the man-made earthquake theory. We did our own research on the net trying to find as much info as we could on all of it. She ordered pizza which didn’t require the number, but she gave me the number anyway. I went upstairs and to get the food while she closed everything down in the office. We had decided to go check out the apartment that Ashley fixed up for her in the Agency.

  I stepped out of the elevator on the surface in the abandoned airfield office, and immediately my hairs stood on end. I reached down to my boot and pulled out the knife I keep hidden there. It was only a 3.5-inch blade, but it was better than nothing. I could do damage with it. A car idled just outside the gutted building, but no one was in it. I slowly walked into the open. I never saw him coming, but I felt him. A large figure hit me on my left side sending us both flying into a stack of old desks. I kicked the invisible thing off me, and it grunted like a man. I took several swings into the air, and hit nothing. If I shifted into the spirit world, I could see him. I pulled on the edge of the plane, and pulled my body into it. Before me stood a tanned Native American man with long black hair, he grinned at me with bright white teeth.

  “Come on buddy, play fair,” I said laughing at him.

  “You are predictable boy. You are mine. She can’t save you here,” he laughed and I felt shadows pour out of the floor and up around me. I could not move. I had played right into his hand. He was right, too. Abby couldn’t shift to the spirit world without me. I couldn’t even pull her through because I was slowly being bound by the shadows. She didn’t even know I needed help. I focused on her hoping the connection we had earlier would still work. We had spoken to each other in the classroom. Maybe that spell had a lingering effect. My life depended on it working now.

  “Abby! Help me!”

  “Abby, I know you are extremely busy with that sexy new partner. At the very least I hope you are enjoying his company. Don’t hold back my dear. You are in a long line of immortals that get what they want. Just take him. I seriously doubt he would protest. And if you don’t want him, I do. I need you to sign these papers before your grandfather roasts me. I’ll catch you tomorrow at the compound. - Aunt Li

  I was sure that all my Aunt ever truly thought about was sex. It didn’t matter how much I tried to explain to her why I was not sleeping with him. She just couldn’t understand. Grandfather said the whole world had gone Fae. I laughed, but he was right. Everybody was having sex with everybody. I’ll make a point to see Lianne tomorrow, and see what papers she needs me to sign.

  I let myself entertain for a moment a relationship with Tadeas. And for that moment I came up with fifty excuses why it should not happen. Top on the list was his relationship with Meredith. I had the feeling that once things settled down, and he admitted to himself he wasn’t going to hurt her that there would be real feelings there. Clearly there were on her side, but he held back. The more he accepted his role as a guardian, he would see that a relationship would only enhance that role. You become a better protector when you have more to protect.

  What was taking so long? I stood up in my chair, and I felt a wave of fear rush over me.

  “Abby! Help me!”

  His voice sounded like a choking panic. My adrenaline kicked in, and I sprinted out of my office. I hit the button for the elevator. This was one of those moments when being in an underground bunker didn’t help. I started focusing on my magic. I drew in power from all I could feel. The earth around me mostly. I couldn’t use any sort of earth magic here. I would not want to shake the whole facility down. I pulled within myself. I knew there was power there. I called the four orbs to my hand and they appeared. Cold iron, hollow steel, quartz crystal and molten sun, all elements I could control easily. I could mold, morph, conduct and flame anything with them. No matter what I faced. I had an answer right in my hand. By the time I reached the top, the power inside of me thumped. I stepped out of the elevator, and saw nothing. I could feel him though. His aura faded quickly. I switched to the magical spectrum, and I saw the man. Nalusa Chito, Choctaw soul eater, stood laughing at a figure that only barely pulsed with a dying light. He could not see me. The darkest parts of his form leaked over into this plane. A seething black smoke, a shadow man. I knew who had tried to take Tadeas. Alarms rang out in my head. There were two of them the night they tried to take Tadeas. I centered my focus on the crystal orb. “RESONO,” I shouted. The power in my voice amplified and resonated through the derelict building. The rafters shook and a wave of visible sound reverberated through the building. “I have you now,” I said and moved toward the hidden figure in the back corner of the room. I pulled the steel ball to my left hand and closed my hand around it. I formed my hand into a gun like kids do when playing cops and robbers. I pulled the fake trigger and said, “Ecfundo.” The steel orb shot out of my hand like a bullet from a gun. At the last moment, the figure threw up a shield and the orb ricocheted off into the darkness. I could feel it as I had all three of the physical items marked, but I let them think I ran out of ammo. The echoing crystal continued to pound the sound of my voice, echoing over and over the Latin command. Tadeas aura faded. I reached deep for the edge of the spirit world like I had felt Tadeas do when he shifted. I could feel it on the edge of my hand. I concentrated on touching it. It kept slipping out of my hand. I shouted his name in my head, “Tadeas!” I felt the fringe as if somehow he pushed it to me, and grasped it with my left hand and yanked it across me like a cool, dark blanket.

  I tried to pull the sun orb to me, but it winked out. It didn’t work in this realm. I only had the hollow steel left, and I wasn’t sure it would do any good for me here. I closed my right hand, and it too disappeared.

  A black tornado of smoke swirled around Tadeas. I tried to call his name but the smoke started filling the room. I took a deep breath just before it consumed me. Everything was cold here. I tried to come up with a translation of my magic here. I did not want to pull the sword, but I would not let him take Tadeas. I made my way to him in the chaos. I could hear Chito laughing.

  “Oh, dear Abigail. If only my friend Lincoln could see how weak you’ve become, how desperately you fight for this one who is nowhere near his equal. I miss him. He always was a good fighter. This is almost too easy.”

  I spun around to where I heard his voice. Silently I prayed. Please don’t let me hurt him. I put my hands out wide and spread my fingers, and called the sword, “Vengence mea, et ego retribuam!”

  A purple flash of light strobed through the shadows. The hilt hit my hand. The white dress from the vault encircled me and a loud report of thunder echoed through the spirit world. I waited for the angel to take over my body, but nothing happened. I pulled the sword to a middle fighting stance. It sang in my han
ds.

  “Et erit lux,” I called. The purple glow stretched out beyond me, and as it pulsed outward, it consumed the darkness. The light spell was not one that I knew how to do. It was just there. I already had it in me to use the sword. Once the light reached the edges of the building, I could see Chito clearly. He looked human. No more shadow. No more darkness. I lowered my eyes to him. “You have one warning. Drop your spells, and walk away. If you do not, I will destroy you here and now.”

  “Where did you get that sword?” he growled.

  “It was given to me. It is far more powerful than I,” I said as I took a step toward him. I could hear Tadeas moving behind me, then he shifted. The light had broken his bonds. He walked up next to me, crouched and growled a low continuous rumble. The figure, clearly a woman, darted out the back door. “Go, I’ve got this,” I said and he sprinted off after her.

  “Who is she?”

  “Couldn’t see her well. Don’t know. Be cautious. Don’t chase her too far.”

  “No scent. She’s gone. Abby, is that the sword?”

  “No time. Circle around behind him.”

  Nalusa thought for a moment, and it occurred to him that in a second that I would strike him down. I saw it register in his face. I had an implement that could erase him. His many years would be laid to waste at my feet. He pulled power, and a ball of shadow hurled toward me. I did not move. It hit the sword and dissipated.

  “It seems you’ve won this day, my fair angel,” he bowed to me and winked out in shadow. I felt the pull of our reality surge over me. Tadeas shifted us back. He walked toward me in human form and stopped several feet from me. I slid the sword into the sheath attached to the leather belt. I hadn’t noticed the storm had arrived other than the clap of thunder before. It was violent and loud.

  “Did Gabriel or one of the other angels come?” he asked.

  “No, why? Are you okay?” He looked to be bruised. He must have struggled so hard against the bonds that he hurt himself. I walked over to him, and finally used the earth power that I pulled in, “Consano.” I waved my hand over his arms, chest and legs.

  “Stop. I’m fine. Look at me,” he said. He reached up and touched my face.

  “What is it?” Then I remembered the island when Gabriel had come, my face glowed with a luminescence that none of us could explain. I looked away, because before it was extremely strange. I had only seen it after it started to fade. “He wasn’t here,” I whispered.

  “It wasn’t him. It’s you,” he said.

  “I don’t understand,” I said. “When the sword hit my hand, the angel didn’t take over like before when I used it.”

  “Before you were commanded to use it. This time you chose to use it. Right?”

  “Yes.”

  “I can only tell you what I saw,” he said.

  “What did you see?” I asked.

  “You looked like an angel to me,” he said.

  I shook my head. “No that isn’t possible. I’m human. Well, I mean wielder, yes. Maybe partly Fae, but not heavenly in any way shape or form. I can’t be an angel. What just happened?” I started to feel overwhelmed. The thoughts in my head raced. What was I? Why would my grandfather lie to me about my parents? It couldn’t be. I physically shook. The thoughts swirled through me like Chito’s shadows. I felt like I was being crushed from the inside out. They were close to the compound. They were waiting on him. Why would Chito take his soul? Where did Chito fit into all of this? Who was the woman?

  “Come back,” he said. “Abby, you gotta come back.”

  I could barely hear him.

  “Can you send the sword back to the vault, Abby?” He grabbed my chin firmly, and tried to force me to focus on his eyes. “Look at me, come back. You’ve gone too far. Please.”

  “Fit iustitia,” I muttered and the sword and dress winked out. I stood there as I did before in my utility pants and shirt. The storm ceased around us and only the calm pattering of rain echoed on the roof. I leaned into him and put my forehead on his shoulder. “What am I?”

  “I don’t have the answer to that, but to me, you were my guardian. You came for me when I called,” he said. “Come on, we should go back inside.” He gently guided me toward the elevator. I stepped in and leaned against the back wall.

  “Is my face really glowing again?” I asked, dumbfounded.

  He didn’t answer.

  I stood in front of the mirror in the new apartment I had acquired within the compound. Apparently, it was the only vacant one in the whole building. I was on floor 3. Ashley had the whole thing furnished for me. I asked her to make it comfortable, not fancy. It had two bedrooms, that way if Tadeas ever needed to stay, he could.

  I didn’t even know what to say about the iridescent look of my face. I would have to call George, and get answers. I stood there staring. Tadeas stood behind me watching me look at myself in the mirror. He leaned against the wall. He grimaced and looked down at his feet like he does when he is unsure.

  I spun around and looked at him. “No, don’t you dare do that right now.”

  “Do what?” he muttered.

  “You feel like you did no good in that situation.”

  “Abby, I was out the door for all of 60 seconds, and he had me bound,” he protested.

  “No, please don’t do this right now,” I walked over to him.

  “You can question yourself, but I can’t, is that it?” he said frustrated, but not angry.

  “You are right. Are we both having a pity party, or are we both getting over it?” I asked.

  “Ugh,” he said in frustrated man language. “You make me want to scream sometimes.” We were both searching ourselves for answers.

  “We will figure it out. It takes time. It’s never easy.” I said.

  “What? Easy to learn to trust you? I trust you completely, Abby. You saved my ass up there,” he pointed out.

  “No. It takes time to learn to trust your own abilities. Chito knows you haven’t done a lot of field work. He used your lack of knowledge against you.”

  “How am I supposed to learn everything? I was just trying to get pizza, damnit.”

  I reached into the dark part of my soul that I know existed, and I pulled the shadows around him just like Chito had.

  “What are you doing? Abby, stop. Please stop,” he begged.

  “No. Get out of it,” I said firmly.

  “I don’t know how.”

  “Yes, you do,” holding the dark spell that long pulled on my heart, and it started to ache. It pained me to do it. I felt the anger rise up in him, and the cold blanket ripped over us again. He shifted. And the shadows dropped. I went to my knees before him. “You are more powerful than you know. I will spend every moment, teaching you what I can. I have failed you to this point. I am so sorry.” I slumped from the darkness of the spell. I had pulled the power from myself, and I was already spent from the fight above the surface. He pulled us back into our home plane, and he sat on the bathroom floor with me. I stumbled trying to get up, and he continued to sit there staring. I caught myself, and worked my way to the bedroom. I didn’t switch on the light. I just needed to get to the bed before I collapsed. The darkness started to overbear me. I could hear him breathing in the other room. I hit my knees just before I got to the bed. I grabbed the blanket and tried to pull myself closer to the bed. His arms linked under mine, and he gently lifted me up. He helped me have a slow descent into the bed. My head hit the pillow. He pulled my boots off, and the covers back. I slid my legs under them, and he leaned over me.

  “I don’t blame you. I blame myself,” he said. I didn’t know what else to say to him. He hurt. I hurt. We were one big ball of hurt. I slowly faded into blackness.

  As I woke up, I became immediately aware of someone in the bed with me. I let out a bit of a gasp when my eyes opened. “Oh!”

  Tadeas laid on the other side of the bed on his side facing me. His eyes were closed. He laid on the edge of the bed as far away from me as possible. He sl
owly opened his eyes. “The glow has faded,” he said. He didn’t move.

  I closed my eyes tight and tried to recall the last bit of last night. I just remember barely making it to the bed. I drifted off knowing he would be gone in the morning, but there he stared at me while lying in my bed. I swallowed and tried to think of something to say.

  He eased up and turned his back to me sitting on the bed. “I did not want to leave you since you saved me last night. Felt like I should at least make sure you were okay after the sword and shadows.”

  “Thank you,” I said quietly. He worked his way to a speech to say something I knew would not like.

  “I need some space today, Abby. Please see if you can call off this party thing for tonight. I just can’t.”

  “What about class today?” I asked.

  “It’s only a half day. They have final weapons training today. I’ll cover it if you don’t mind. Then I just need a little space. I don’t know what I’m doing here. You pulled a stunt last night to save me, which you would not have had to do, if I weren’t completely incompetent. Fighting and instructing these kids is nothing like what's out there. Right now, I don’t think I’m ready for it. I’m not backing out on you. I just need to think.”

  I was crushed. I had a feeling our differences were completely resolved, but we needed more time with each other. I needed to teach him. That way he would know what was out there. Not less time. He still sat facing the wall with his back to me. I got up and moved toward the door.

  “If you are going to work with me Tadeas, there will be days that I pull power to save you. Then there will be days when you keep me focused and save me. And on the job training is brutal, but extremely effective. We need more time together, not less if we are going to do this,” I turned back to look at him. His back was straight and the tension in his shoulders was evident.

  “It won’t be today,” he said and stood up and walked toward the bedroom door with me. I honestly was not trying to block his way. At least not consciously, but I moved a little aside so he could go through. He stopped right in front of me. Leaned over and kissed my forehead, and went out of the apartment.