A Matter of Time (The Angel Sight Series)

by Lisa M Basso

  My three kidnappers didn’t move.

  They wouldn’t know Hell because they’d never been there. Bitterness coated my tongue. “I don’t have to explain myself to any of you.” I pushed out of the chair again, ducking under Rosa’s attempt to stop me.

  She lunged at me, tackling me and pinning me to the floor.

  Pinpricks of memories flowed behind my eyes. Lucien pinning me to his torture rack. His breath brushing against my neck. His tongue flicking out to lick the blood off my face.

  “Let me go,” I snarled.

  Don’t flip out. They’re just scared. Scared, but not dangerous, not like Kade said. He wouldn’t be right about these poor people.

  I stopped struggling, even though Rosa’s knee was digging into my side. “You don’t want to wake my partner.”

  “Too late.”

  All of us looked toward the doorway where Kade stood. Blackness engulfed his eyes.

  “El Diablo,” Rosa said.

  Kade focused on her. “Not quite, but pretty damn close.”

  She released me and stepped back.

  I pressed a hand to my side as I stood. “Kade, I’m fine. They were confused, and scared.”

  “Not as scared as they should be.”

  With his eyes like that I couldn’t read him, until he drew toward them.

  I looked at the six not quite helpless, but still innocent humans, and I stepped in front of Kade.

  “Kade, don’t do this.” I pressed my palms against his chest. The shock of touching him again, of our connection, hit me full force. The very air crackled. The building could have come tumbling down around us and I wouldn’t have noticed. “Please.” I stared into his eyes, trying to claw through the darkness to get to him.

  His eyes didn’t change. He continued to stare beyond me, to the survivors. It was as if I didn’t exist.

  Strange that I could be stopped dead by this uncanny, heart-jolting connection with just a touch, yet he remained completely unaffected, barely registering my presence. It was the last several days repeated over and over again. Whatever we had shared, whatever he had felt in Hell, he didn’t feel it here. He felt … nothing. I had poured my heart out to him, and he couldn’t even stomp on it because it would require too much energy. To him I wasn’t the girl he’d once cared for, I was the fly buzzing around his meal.

  I took a step back, colder from my new knowledge. The beginnings of stupid, useless tears pricked my eyes. “Fine,” I said, bitterness lacing my voice. “Then start with me.”

  Chapter Thirty

  Kade

  Through the hunter’s vision—nothing but blacks, whites, and grays—the dark of night fell from the room. I’d start with the Army girl. It might not have been all her idea, from what I overheard in the hallway, but she’d had her hands on Ray. That was good enough for—

  A hand centered on my chest. Narrow, delicate fingers pressed into my shirt. I would have closed my eyes, savored the feel of it, but I couldn’t trust what the humans would do. Before I could think about anything beyond that touch, it was gone. Ray backed up to the crowd of humans. Liquid swam in her eyes.

  “Fine, then start with me.”

  We had one goal in bringing her to the city: get her to the angels so they could teach her how to eliminate the Fallen. Every single one.

  Including me.

  Cam had suggested he’d overheard the angels claim Ray could kill all of the Fallen. It was Earth’s only hope for survival. Ray had missed the glance Cam speared me with after he said it. His apology and warning all in one.

  I stepped forward, watching the Army girl’s eyes widen, needing that fear to spur me on, to help me forget, and just feel.

  My pulse pounded in anticipation. The girl’s mouth hung open, her bottom lip quivering.

  Ray moved to step in front of her, stalling my momentum.

  “You still want to save them?” I asked, my voice a snarl. “That scum would have delivered you to the Fallen.”

  The anger drained from around her eyes. “They were confused. Scared.”

  I had to make her see I needed this, that they needed to be punished. “And when humans are scared, they make selfish decisions. Like I said.”

  “Not all of us are like that. Look at them. Only three went along with it. What if they thought they were doing the right thing? And what about the others? They wanted nothing to do with it.”

  Watching Ray with her back to the trained soldier made me more than nervous. A feeling I’d never experienced in my hunter’s state. It threw everything off.

  “Cover your eyes,” the old lady said to her daughter. She’d obviously seen the Fallen in action before and knew what our black eyes could do.

  All the humans did as she said, except for Rosa, the one I was most worried about. The one I needed to start with … soon.

  I licked my lips, practically tasting her life on my tongue.

  But I needed Ray out of the way first. Influencing the soldier would only push Ray farther toward them. I needed a new plan.

  I blinked away the hunter’s vision, temporarily driving back the need. I had to calm Ray and get her away from that woman. Then I could release my tenuous hold on this hunger and go wild. “And what about Cam? When he left, all you could think about was finding him. Are they more important than him?”

  The words hit Ray like a punch. Hurt exploded across her face. Maybe I’d gone too far, but she had to know saving her planet would come with sacrifices. Her precious Cam might not make it out of this alive either.

  The man on the far left, the one in the sweats, opened his eyes. He wasted no time making a run for the door.

  I could have stopped him. I had plenty of time. But the fewer of them I had to look after right now the better.

  The Army woman called out for him, “Cliff!” Her voice powered through the silence cloaked over the city.

  I lunged forward, knocking Ray out of the way, grabbing the woman by the throat and pinning her against the nearest hard surface. “You say another word,” I growled, “and I tear your throat out in a way that will keep you breathing.”

  The woman trembled like a cold puppy. Pathetic.

  A second later a loud explosion boomed through the hall, rocking the ground. My eardrums hummed.

  Cliff must have forgotten about the claymore.

  “Everyone out!” I called, watching them scramble toward the door.

  The Army woman was the last of the humans to pull it together.

  Ray waited for me. Guess she wasn’t as pissed at me as she thought. We linked arms, her grabbing mine while I locked onto hers, and we pushed through the cloud of dust in the hall toward the front door.

  Any Fallen within a mile and a half range would have heard it. Guess I should have stopped that jackass after all.

  Thick black smoke and the smell of burnt flesh stung even my eyes. There was no way they’d all make it out of here before a patrol arrived.

  I sucked in a breath, and remembered how the Army woman smelled, the fear seeping off of her. When I opened my eyes again, my hunter’s sight was clear, almost completely unhindered by the smoke.

  I backed Ray up to the wall furthest from the blast. She didn’t as much as flinch. “Stay here. Count to twenty. If I don’t come back for you, go back the way we came and find another way out.”

  She covered her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her jacket and nodded through a coughing fit. I would have kissed her if I didn’t think she’d slap me for it.

  I left her side, starting my own count.

  Twenty, nineteen, eighteen.

  I grabbed the two survivors closest to the front door. I pulled them out and shoved them straight ahead.

  Seventeen, sixteen, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen.

  I went back in for the mother and daughter next even though they were furthest away.

  Twelve, eleven.

  The old woman slipped over a chunk of Cliff’s remains. I yanked her to her feet and pushed her out the door after her
daughter.

  Ten, nine, eight.

  I grabbed the last survivor. The Army woman. I held on to her.

  Seven, six, five.

  I stared into her eyes which were wide in terror, trying to fight the wrong decision away.

  Four, three.

  With a forceful shove, I directed her toward the door.

  Two, one.

  I ran back in for Ray, who hadn’t moved.

  “I told you twenty.”

  She coughed into her jacket as I guided her through the smoke. “I gave you two more seconds. Benefit of the doubt.”

  The humans had gathered on the other side of the street, regrouping.

  “They’ll find a place to hide. We have to go.”

  “We can’t just leave them!” she pleaded.

  “As soon as we link up with Cam, we’ll fill him in. He’ll make sure they get out. Staying with them will only put them in more danger. The Fallen are hunting us. They won’t care about them.”

  And then there were five.

  She watched as the humans climbed one by one through a broken window in the building across from us, pure concern humming through her.

  “We’ll lead the Fallen away, make them chase us.”

  She nodded now, one hundred percent on board with my stupidest plan yet.

  My goddamn little martyr.

  We ran together through the middle of the street, hand in hand—when we didn’t have to deal with climbing over obstacles. We made it all of three blocks before the telltale sound of flapping wings came for us.

  I lagged behind, glancing into the dawn sky. A Fallen swooped over me and tackled Ray to the ground. They rolled into a shredded car abandoned on its side with a loud thud. I was on him in seconds, smashing his head into the bottom of the car. Sprays of the Fallen’s blood dotted Ray’s face. I didn’t let up until he stopped moving. Then I rolled him over, shielding her from having to watch while I drove a knife through his heart. I kicked him to the side and reached behind me for Ray. She didn’t grab my hand.

  I turned. She was still on the ground. Her face was strained and pale. I followed her gaze down her body. She clutched her thigh with both hands. Bright red blood bubbled over a rusted shard of metal protruding from the car and through the better part of her leg.

  Shit.

  I knelt beside her, searching for a way to lift her off the scrap without causing more damage.

  Her eyes flicked skyward. “Leave me.”

  I shook my head, still focused on her leg.

  Her fingers, hot and wet with her blood, gripped onto mine, tangling until they stopped slipping. “I’ve got this. I’m a weapon, remember? Just get far away, and fast.”

  The urgency in her eyes, the sureness in the curling of the edge of her lips made me agree. She didn’t just need to do this—she wanted to.

  Even though I would have gladly fought off any Fallen that came near her until my last breath, I did what she wanted.

  I ran two blocks to the left, then straight another block and a half.

  A light brighter than any I’d seen since they kicked me out of Heaven scorched the clouds in the sky. It shot straight up like spotlight, glimmering gold and silver before it nearly blinded me. I turned away, watching the beacon in the unbroken windows of the building across from me. It expanded, swallowing up what must have been an entire city block. My skin vibrated, separating it from muscle and bone. The hum, like an explosion of bass, made my eardrums bleed. Pain rocketed through my every cell. I couldn’t so much as breathe. The joints in my body slowly slid apart. Locked in place, pulled in every direction, as if being drawn and quartered. Pain locked my vocal chords, making my screams silent. The joints in my fingers popped from their sockets one by one. The pressure pulling my neck made me guess it would be next.

  With a single flicker, the light and hum died off.

  I collapsed to the asphalt. My body worked overtime to right itself. I wriggled until I could flop over onto my back so I could watch the sky. It was empty except for the perfect circle cut into the clouds above.

  That had come out of her.

  The light show hadn’t lasted more than twenty seconds. It was more than enough to attract the attention of every other Fallen in the city. I struggled to my feet ran back as fast as I could, wishing for my wings back to get to her faster.

  More Fallen had arrived by the time I got there. Nearly a dozen.

  I ducked behind a mound of torn up asphalt and watched. Some of them had suffered the same symptoms as me, but not all. We must have been too close to her blast radius. I’d managed to get nearly four blocks away and even that was too close.

  The Fallen examined the piles of ash near the center of the street, beside a rather large puddle of blood. But no Ray.

  She had to be here. She had to be.

  I scanned the area twice. The slightest hint of movement drew my attention; two bright hazel eyes blinking from beneath an overturned car.

  She was alive. I exhaled, closing my eyes to savor the image. The strength of the blast, the range it had spanned … it should have killed her.

  There had to be more Fallen on the way. They’d find her under there eventually. She needed a distraction the size of a school bus.

  I picked up a piece of rubble and chucked it into the building behind me. I palmed my larger knife and waited. A Fallen stalked forward. I jumped out from behind my rock and sliced his throat. It wouldn’t kill him, but it would make enough noise to attract some attention.

  Shouts rose. A leader among them sent a group of the Fallen after me. I ran, hard, back a few blocks to where I had spotted some vehicles that hadn’t been completely demolished. I stayed too close to the buildings for them to swoop me up, so most followed on foot. Up a small hill, one car was parked in the street. I tried the door. Unlocked, it opened for me. I shifted the car in neutral, straightened out the wheel, and let it roll. It collided into a cluster of cars gathered at the bottom of the hill. One still had a working alarm system. The alarm blared, calling more attention.

  A streak of black barreled into me. My back scraped along the concrete like a stone skipping over water. While the Fallen on top of me tried to snap my neck, I glanced further up the hill and found our saving grace. A tank.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Rayna

  When the four Fallen had landed all around me, one by one, I hadn’t needed to summon the anger or hate that had helped me use Lucien’s essence before. I simply let the darkness inside me creep over, smiled, and closed my eyes against the light show.

  I reeled, but fought against the dizziness threatening to take me. Straining to pull my leg free of the broken car piece, I used that pain to keep consciousness close. All the while coughing up thick clumps of dark red blood. My leg throbbed. My chest wheezed. I was afraid I would rip wide open. It had been a long time since I’d felt this kind of pain, and I hadn’t been prepared. In a way, this was like Lucien’s final payback.

  I grunted and maybe whined a little, definitely coughed—a lot—but I didn’t scream. I did, however, sputter more blood more when I finally twisted my leg free. A lot more. Instead of ruining my jacket, I grabbed a handful of Fallen ash in front of me, cringed, and slapped it on both sides of the wound to stall the bleeding. Then I dragged myself to the first sign of shelter—an upturned car maybe ten yards from where I’d been.

  Broken glass slid into my skin as I dragged myself onto the roof of the car seconds before a set of black wings landed. I settled between the two front seats, stifling my hectic need to cough, and fanning my hair out in front of my face so they wouldn’t be able to see the whites of my eyes. As long as the sky didn’t get too bright they probably wouldn’t find me for a while.

  Eight more Fallen landed.

  I kept my breaths short and shallow, fighting the need to cough. Instead of watching what I could see of the Fallen examining the ashy remains of their comrades, I stared through my hair and out the cracked windshield. My heart throbbed against the
roof of the car. The sound echoed in my ears. I had no choice but wait to be discovered.

  Movement to the right of the Fallen caught my eye. A head poked up. Kade, his face dark with ash. My chest filled with air. Thank Heaven he’d gotten far enough away from the blast. I was so relieved I risked movement, angling my head slowly to the side until a clump of hair slid away from my face.

  The Fallen walked the perimeter, slowly, purposefully. I winced when one of them passed where Kade had been squatting. The Fallen must not have been able to sense him among all the Fallen and chaos, because he looked surprised when Kade latched onto him and slid a knife across his throat. The Fallen gurgled as blood sprayed from the wound. Kade turned and took off running.

  “Bring me his head,” the Fallen closest to me shouted.

  Seven of the nine Fallen in the area shot into the sky to pursue him.

  Then there were two.

  I was still bleeding pretty profusely, and could barely hold myself up I was so weak from the first blast. I doubted I could muster up another. Plus, I had no idea if Kade was a safe distance away. No way would I risk his life after all he’d given up.

  If—when—they found me, they’d probably take me to whoever was in charge. Azriel, if Kade’s guess was right. That would buy me time and distance. Then I could blast Az in his stupid jerk face.

  A crash burst from somewhere not too far away, followed by the blaring of a car alarm. That got the attention of the remaining two Fallen.

  The one closest to me shouted to the sky, “Go check it out!” There must have been more in the air. “Expand the search area,” he ordered those on the ground. “She couldn’t have gone far with that injury. Look for blood.”

  I didn’t risk another glance at my leg. For all I knew I could have had a river leaking down the overturned car’s roof and out one of the broken windows. Slowly, the feet in my view walked away.