Broken: (Ignite, Book 2)

by Fleur Camacho

  “What the…?” Her dad tried to push Jace off of him but Jace was as immoveable as a mountain. Her dad struggled, kicking and screaming, and her mom was calling to him. “Get off him.”

  Jace’s hands shook, pinning down her dad, and he clenched his teeth. He deliberately slowed his breathing. “I will not kill you right now. But if I ever see you do that to Laura again, you will not be so lucky.” Jace leaned in and his breath washed over her dad. “You lost one daughter, why can’t you love the one you still have?”

  Her dad was suddenly calm. “How… how did you know about that? Did Laura tell you about Allie?” He’d never said her name since the funeral, he’d never spoken it. Until now.

  Jace relaxed and sat on the floor next to her dad. Her dad covered his face with one hand and Jace held the other one. “You checked the gun the day before. You thought it was empty. You didn’t know that Allie had gone shooting earlier that day.”

  Laura heard an animal howl and was surprised to discover that the noise was coming from her dad. He crawled into the fetal position and huddled close to Jace, sobbing. Jace pulled him close, allowing him to cry on his chest.

  Both Laura and her mom couldn’t move. They’d never seen him cry before, even after the accident. Jace put his hand on her dad’s chest and the cries grew louder.

  A tidal wave of emotion poured over Laura. She felt pity, hate, anger. She didn’t want to feel sorry for him, after everything he’d done, but she couldn’t help it. She saw him as he saw himself: self-loathing, and the pain eating him up inside. Her anger was now deflated and she tried to come to terms with the man crying on Jace. Still, he had no excuse to take everything out on them. She was so confused.

  “Dad.” Laura tried to talk but her throat was scratchy. She knelt down beside him and patted his shoulder.

  He turned and looked at her. “She came to me the other night. I saw her in a dream.” Tears streamed down his face. “She came to tell me that she forgave me.” His face scrunched up. “But how can I ever forgive myself?”

  Jace touched her dad’s eyes and he began to cry again. “I don’t deserve her forgiveness.”

  Jace shook his head. “Everyone deserves forgiveness, if they try to make restitution. But you have to try.”

  Her dad shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s too late. For Allie, and for the rest of my family. The way I’ve lived… It’s unforgivable.”

  Jace looked at Laura. “Not for them. It’s not too late for them.”

  Laura looked away, her eyes clouded over with confusion.

  Jace continued. “They may not forgive you right away.” He nodded at her. “But it’s worth it to try.”

  Tears streamed down Laura’s face and her heart overflowed with gratitude towards Jace. He understood her need to take her time, and wasn’t giving her dad a free pass for the way he’d acted. But he was giving her dad hope, something he desperately needed.

  Jace took her mom’s hand and pulled her close. Tears were streaming down her face also. She knelt next to Jace and her dad turned towards her. “Can we try?” He sat up, facing her. “I mean, can I try to gain your forgiveness?”

  She laughed and nodded. “Of course you can.”

  Laura felt resentment that her mother had given in so quickly. And that he hadn’t asked her to try. She stood up.

  Jace watched her rise, and then slowly allowed her mom to take up the space he’d occupied. Laura’s parents talked quietly and Jace pulled Laura close.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded, staring at her parents, and he tsked. “Don’t lie to me.”

  “If you knew that I wasn’t okay, why did you ask?” She looked at him now and instantly felt regret for taking her anger out on him. “I’m sorry.”

  He pulled her hair behind her ear and then pulled her chin up, looking at her neck. His eyes turned to steel. “If he ever does that again, I will kill him.”

  Laura nodded. “I know. Thanks for saving me.”

  He pulled her close, breathing in slowly. “Laura, Laura.” Then he stepped back. “Crap, I have to go.” Panic filled his eyes. “Where’s Reece? I’m going to look through his room, okay? Ask your parents where he is.”

  Laura nodded and Jace ran for the stairs.

  She looked down at her parents. Her mom was stroking her dad’s arm. “Mom, where’s Reece?”

  Her mom looked up, startled. She’d forgotten that Laura was there. “I haven’t seen him all morning.”

  Those words filled Laura with dread. Anxiety closed in on her. “Did he leave for school already?”

  “I guess. Usually he’s here for breakfast, but he wasn’t here today. I figured that he left early for something. He left a note on the counter in the kitchen.”

  Laura sped towards the kitchen. She saw his note, in his scrawled handwriting. “Had to leave early. I love you.”

  Laura frowned. Reece never told them he loved them. Something was wrong. Jace came down the stairs. “Nothing. Where’s Reece?”

  Laura showed him the note.

  Jace pulled her towards the door and grabbed her keys. “Go to the school and see if he’s there. Call Kayla on your way and make sure she’s okay. See if she knows where Reece is.”

  Jace called back to her parents. “I heard the weather is going to be bad today. There’s supposed to be a bad snow storm. Don’t go anywhere, okay?”

  Laura’s mom looked confused but nodded. “Okay.”

  Satisfied, he opened the door for Laura and they started walking towards her car. “Make sure to tell Kayla to stay home, or to go to your house. And not to go to the hospital.”

  Laura nodded. “Oh man, she’s going to kill me for being gone so long. Wait, Jace.”

  He stopped.

  “Where’s Jezzie? I thought she’d be here by now.”

  “I’m not sure, but I think she’s going to go through with her plans anyway. She’ll deal with me later.”

  Laura nodded and Jace opened the door to her car. “Now go. And don’t go anywhere else. And if you hear gunshots, you run away, as fast as you can. Okay?” He shut the door, not waiting for her to answer.

  Then he pulled her door back open, leaned down and kissed her. “I love you.” Then he was gone, into the sky, and Laura sat there with her mouth open.

  ❦

  Laura had a hard time focusing on what she was supposed to be doing. Jace loved her. And he actually said the words out loud. Should she have said she loved him back? No, he didn’t give her time. Did she love him back?

  The answer came clearly and immediately. Yes, she did love him. She grinned. The worry about things with her dad and the past few days evaporated and she glowed inside. Jace loved her.

  Her phone rang and she was startled out of her reverie. She remembered that she’d left it plugged in to the car charger. Good thing! Otherwise, how would she call Kayla? She picked it up, checking the number; it was an unknown number. She let it go to voicemail and noticed that she had a bunch of missed calls. She would worry about that later. She dialed Kayla’s number and took in a deep breath, ready for the onslaught that would come from Kayla.

  She answered after the first ring. “Laura?”

  “Hi, Kayla.”

  “Laura! It’s you!” Kayla started crying. “I can’t believe it’s you. I thought something happened to you, I was so worried. After Jace said he couldn’t find you and then he went missing. Then, Matt and John were missing and I was just going crazy. Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay.”

  “Oh, thank God.”

  Kayla was still crying and Laura wanted to soothe her, but she was worried about Reece. “Kayla, do you know where Reece is?”

  Kayla took a breath in. “At school, I’m guessing. I really don’t know, honey. Why?”

  “I don’t have time to explain now, but I really need to find him.”

  Kayla cleared her throat. “Yes, you do have some explaining to do.” She paused and took a deep breath in. “But I know you would’ve call
ed if you could’ve. Just call me when you can, okay?”

  Laura was relieved. “Thank you. I need to find Reece, I’ll call you later, okay?”

  “Okay, honey.”

  “And Kayla?”

  “Yes?”

  “I’ll explain everything later, but don’t go anywhere today, okay? At least, not right away.”

  Kayla was quiet for a moment. “Does this have anything to do with Jace?”

  Laura swallowed hard. “Kayla, you just have to trust me, okay?”

  Kayla sighed. “Okay. I just got off my shift anyway, so I was going to try to get some sleep. I haven’t slept in days, just so worried about you.”

  “I know, I know. And I’m so sorry about that.”

  “Alright, baby girl. You call me when you can.”

  “I will. And Kayla?”

  “Yes?”

  “I love you.”

  Kayla took in a deep breath. “I love you too, honey.”

  Laura hung up and tried Reece’s phone. He usually never answered his phone but Laura hoped that he would pick it up if he saw it was her calling him. It went straight to voicemail. “Damn it.”

  She was getting close to the school anyway and her stomach was tied in knots. Something wasn’t right. She pushed the gas pedal down. She had to find Reece.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Jace stood next to Matt and John, who were sitting and leaning next to Laura’s family barn. Jace pulled John up. “Did Dr. Eppinger inject anything else into your body besides the clear liquid?”

  Matt folded his arms. “Why do you care?”

  Jace stepped back. “I do care.”

  “How are we supposed to know if you’re telling the truth?”

  “Laura trusts me, doesn’t she?”

  Matt nodded. “Yeah, but maybe she shouldn’t. She isn’t known for making the best life choices.”

  Jace began to pace, leaving John leaning against the barn. “That’s true.” He stopped and looked at Matt. “Do you remember when Dr. Eppinger got called away and a soldier entered the room. He went through all of the vials and took some of them?”

  Matt nodded.

  “And then when Dr. Eppinger returned, he was pissed off that some of his vials were missing?”

  Matt nodded again. “Yeah, and he threw a scalpel at me.” He lifted his arm, showing a small wound that was healing on his inner arm.

  “That was my Second in Command, Seaman. I ordered him to go in there and take away anything that would do some serious damage.” He inspected Matt’s wound. “The wound you have is nothing compared to what Dr. Eppinger would have injected you with. He was obsessed with the balance between good and evil and was trying to create the perfect soldier that would obliterate both sides to have one monochromic soldier. His utopia was one where there is no choice but one way. His way. He was mad, of course, and Jezzie let him run his experiments. She figured that if she kept him under her care, she would know what he’s up to. Sort of like, keeping your friends close and your enemies closer.”

  “The problem is, Dr Eppinger was too mad to really understand what he was doing and he had zero ethical boundaries. He would inject something into a creature just to see what would happen. So you could be a purple bald-headed, half-rhinoceros, half-eagle, right now.”

  Matt smiled. “That would be interesting.”

  Jace frowned. “Believe me, it wouldn’t. Fortunately he began his experiments with Angel matter, and I’ve tried keeping anything else out of his hands.”

  “So why has my whole body been itching?”

  “It’s because you are growing at a massive rate and your skin is stretching. You don’t realize it yet, but you’re much stronger and probably faster than you ever thought possible.” Jace rubbed his forehead. “Look, I don’t have time to go over all of this right now. The Fallen have—”

  “Excuse me, who? The ‘Fallen’?”

  Jace began to pace impatiently. “Okay, look I’m going to give you the quick version. I’m an Angel.”

  Matt scoffed.

  Jace continued, ignoring him. “And the men whose base you stumbled into are the Fallen. As in, Fallen Angels. Either because of something they did or men who became bad. Cain, Judas, people like that. Or because they were born into the Fallen society. Dr Eppinger was the grandson of the Nazi experimental doctor Hans Eppinger.”

  Matt inhaled sharply.

  “We exist everywhere, we just usually don’t make our presence known and, unfortunately for you, you unwittingly found their base. The day I fell into Laura’s yard,” Jace spread his arms out, “I was being chased by the Fallen and my wings caught on fire and I landed in her yard.”

  “Unfortunately for me,” Matt mumbled. “Who knew that I would help the man who would steal the only woman I ever loved?”

  Jace put his hand on Matt’s shoulder. “I’m sorry about that. But you will find love. I promise.”

  Matt looked away and didn’t answer. A cool breeze from the mountains rushed through the open space, and Matt shivered.

  John groaned and both Matt and Jace looked at him, worried. Jace examined him. “What’s happened to John, why is he weak and you’re not as affected like him? Did Dr. Eppinger give you anything else?”

  Matt shook his head. “He was going to, right before you guys got there, thank God. But John had an adverse reaction to the initial injection. It was like, he was allergic or something.”

  “Has he complained about his stomach or head? Anything like that?”

  “His chest. Near the injection site.”

  Jace nodded “Okay, let me start there.” He put his hand on John’s chest.

  “Wait, what are you doing?” Matt protested.

  Jace stared into Matt’s face. “Look, I know that you don’t like me much but…” Jace spread his wings wide and the glory of their brilliance caused Matt’s mouth to drop. “If I were a bad Angel, my wings would be grey. I’m a good Angel, a healer. So please let me heal him.”

  Matt nodded, his mouth still open.

  Jace closed his eyes and felt John’s chest, searching. He moved his hand over the muscle over his collar bone and stopped. Healing warmth shot through his hands into John’s chest and John grew heavy, leaning onto Jace.

  Matt shifted uncomfortably, eyeing Jace wearily.

  Then Jace put his hands on John’s head and suddenly John jerked up, eyes wide. “Where are we?”

  ❦

  Jace flew towards the cave, searching the sky for Unland and Seaman. Two specks appeared and Jace recognized them. Jace flew towards them. “You got out.”

  Unland nodded. “As soon as they realized that you left, Jezzie told them to forget about you and not to wait, but to begin orders immediately. We were able to sneak out in the madness. It’s crazy down there.”

  The air whipped their hair, and they floated upwards with the current, but their wings kept them steady. “And the bombs?”

  “I’ve managed to disable most of them. But they won’t notice until it’s too late.”

  “Most of them?”

  Unland nodded. “I almost got caught. I had to leave a couple.”

  Jace nodded and looked at Seaman. “How are you?”

  Seaman looked up, he’d been staring off this whole time. There were black shadows under his eyes but other than that, he looked fine. “I’m fine.” Bitterness seeped through his voice.

  “Well,” Jace looked forward, unable to help Seaman now. It would take time to heal. As soon as this was over, he could be with Mia again. “Are you ready for revenge?”

  Seaman perked up. “Yes, sir.”

  “Let’s go sabotage plans then.”

  ❦

  They met with Matt and John, who were running around in circles. When Jace, Seaman and Unland landed, Matt and John sped to their side.

  They jumped around, excited.

  Jace laughed. “Getting used to your new powers?”

  Matt nodded his head vigorously. “Is this how you feel all the time? It’s ama
zing.”

  Seaman nodded and Unland shrugged.

  “We’re used to it,” Jace answered. “So it’s just like normal running to us. Or flying.”

  John tried to look at his back. “Will we grow wings too?”

  Jace couldn’t help but grin. “I don’t know, only time will tell.”

  Matt jumped up and down. “I’ve always wanted to fly.”

  Unland rolled his eyes and mumbled under his breath.

  Jace grew serious. “Listen. We don’t have a lot of time. You can play with your new powers later. Jezzie,” he looked at Matt and John, “brought her men here to begin a reign of terror. The same kind that’s happening in many parts of Africa and the Middle East.”

  “What?” Matt stared at Jace.

  Jace nodded, “They are to begin their first attack today. We need to stop them.”

  John swallowed hard. “Okay, what do we need to do?”

  “You know this area better than we do. We need to find the men who have been influenced by Jezzie’s Fallen, find out where they’re going to attack, and stop them. Unland has an idea of where to start. Did you bring the map?”

  Unland pulled it out of one of the pockets of his uniform, and unfolded it. There were areas marked, mostly around Boise.

  Matt and John crowded around the map and John pointed to an area. “There’s a mall right there.”

  Matt pitched in. “Yeah, and that’s where my mom used to work when I was younger. It’s a government building.”

  “There’s no time to try to get to Michael, it has to be us. We can do this, though, I know it.” Jace stood upright and looked towards the sky. “Alexander is here.” He looked at Seaman and Unland. “There has to be a reason he came. Can you work with them to stop this? I’ll come back if I can.”

  They both nodded and Jace shot into the sky.

  ❦

  “Alexander, what do you want?” Jace pushed him back further into the clouds. He didn’t want Alexander to know what they were doing.

  “Jace, I know exactly what’s going on. No one can stop talking about it. I’m here to give you information that you’re going to want.”

  Jace frowned. “What makes you think that I trust any information you give me?”