by C. L. Coffey
Since I’d left my bag in the bathroom, I pulled out some clean clothes and got dressed. There was no way I’d be able to go back to sleep now.
Returning my attention back to the mirror, I drank in my appearance. Aside from the fact that going to sleep with wet hair had been a huge mistake, color had returned to my cheeks. If I covered the wound up, no one would be able to tell I’d been hurt.
I grabbed the wastebasket and pulled the plastic bag from it. When I started wringing out the clothes, I discovered my phone in the pocket of my jacket.
“Crap.” No matter how much I pressed any of the buttons, it wouldn’t turn on. I’d had a shower with that in there, too, so there was no point hoping the phone just had a dead battery.
Leigh-Ann was going to kill me.
Trying to shove the clothes into the small plastic bag was pointless too. I’d only managed to fit Gabriel’s pants in the bag tearing it.
Abandoning everything, I walked back into the main room. Gabriel was awake and watching the television. “How are you feeling?” I asked, hurrying over to the side of his bed.
“Better.” He rolled his neck, working out a kink, but his eyes remained on me. “Thank you for last night.”
“Thank me after we’ve seen how much of a mess I made.” I reached for the bandage, happy to see no line of blood on it. Gabriel waited patiently while I unraveled it from around him. Carefully, I peeled back the gauze.
Gabriel’s wound hadn’t healed as quickly as mine. The cut was still thick, red, and angry looking. I gently ran my finger over the red skin. It was hot. “That’s better?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Better than last night.”
“You need to see a doctor.”
“The worst is over. It’s taking longer to heal because my body is still fighting off the effects of the tainted weapon,” he explained.
Instead of wrapping the wound back up, I went over to his bag and found the small pile of medical supplies that remained, grabbing fresh gauze and tape. “What’s a tainted weapon?” I asked as I taped the gauze in place.
“A weapon which has been stained by the blood of the innocent.”
Nice.
“Kennedy, are you okay?”
Giving Gabriel a crooked smile, I shrugged my shoulder. “I’m fine.”
Gabriel shook his head, reaching for my chin. He raised it up and examined my face. “I dreamt that you were injured last night. And then, when I woke up, it felt more like a memory.”
“I’m as fine as a person can be who had her ass handed to her before she was almost blown up by a house.”
“The house didn’t try to blow you up.”
“No, but it could have.” I was being evasive, yes, but Gabriel was only just upright, and seeing as though my injuries were healing, I didn’t want him worrying about anything other than himself. “Gabriel, I’m fine. Honestly. Besides being hungry.”
Giving me a long, hard look, Gabriel finally nodded. “The fire at Abaddon’s was on the news. They’re still investigating the cause, but no bodies were recovered at the scene.”
Which meant the exploding fallen angel had successfully . . .? “No bodies? What about Abaddon?”
“They’re still going through the rubble, but Abaddon wasn’t in that house.”
Standing, I cocked my head. “But his truck was still there.”
Gabriel gave me a rueful smile. “Abaddon has spent centuries evading Heaven. The fire was probably a distraction for him to escape. If we’d had more opportunity to look around, I suspect he had a second escape vehicle ready. Or maybe he just ran. Either way, I guarantee that Abaddon is no longer in the area.”
“We should head back to the college.” I was grateful for the escape. Staying here made me nervous. Not just because I wanted Gabriel to get a medical checkup, but also because I didn’t want the police to show up on our doorstep.
“Agreed.” Gabriel got to his feet with a groan, so I stepped forward, ready to catch him if he wobbled. He closed his eyes. “It has been a very long time since I was injured like this.”
“Maybe we should stay here and let you rest?” Eager as I was to leave this place, if staying put was better for Gabriel, then that’s what we should do.
Gabriel ran a hand over his jaw before shaking his head. “Last night an archangel walked onto Abaddon’s property. While Abaddon is probably long gone, if I were him, I would have whatever army of Fallen he has searching for us. It won’t take long for them to start checking the hotels in the area. We should leave now.”
“I need to find something to put our clothes in.” I didn’t want to leave the clothes in the hotel, nor did I want to carry the soaked items through the room, dripping blood everywhere.
“Put the clean things in your bag, and the others, in mine. I will dispose of them when we get back to the college.”
Nodding, I then left him to do as he suggested. It didn’t take long, and after making sure to rinse the shower out after, I had two bags packed and was ready to go.
Gabriel got dressed while I’d cleaned, so once I had the bags, he went to the door. I held my breath, praying there weren’t an army of fallen angels outside.
Thankfully, when we got outside, the parking lot was empty. Gabriel was slow moving to the Range Rover, and I was surprised when he went to the driver’s side. “What are you doing?” I asked him. “You should rest.”
“You don’t have a license.”
“You’re injured.” I countered.
“And once I’m seated, I’ll be fine. Do you really want to argue with me on this?”
No, I didn’t. But I wasn’t immortal like him, and I didn’t want to die if we got into a wreck because he passed out.
Sensing my hesitation, Gabriel placed a hand on my shoulder. “I will be fine, Kennedy.”
After the last 24 hours, I was just glad to get out of Manhattan, Kansas.
Gabriel did not crash the SUV, and we made it back to the college alive. The drive back was steady and subdued, mainly because I figured Gabriel would need all the energy to focus on driving and not talking to me.
We pulled up to the college gates and waited for the security guy to verify our identity to let us in.
“What about Abaddon?” I asked, as we drove up to the campus parking lot.
Gabriel parked and then blew out a breath. “Hopefully, that was enough to change Leigh-Ann’s prophecy. Abaddon was spooked and ran. Preferably in the opposite direction to this place.”
Grateful that I was, for him calling it a prophecy, his ‘hope’ didn’t really put me at ease.
I got out of the SUV and went to the back to grab the bags. I’d swung mine over my good shoulder when Gabriel joined me. “Leave the other,” he told me. “I’ll dispose of it later.”
“Why, where are you going now?”
Gabriel turned, arching an eyebrow. “To the infirmary.”
“Good,” I muttered before shutting the door.
Since it was a nice day and classes had finished for the day, there were a few students out, milling around the campus. Many of them had cups from the coffee shop. After the initial outrage at being stuck on campus, it seemed most of the student body had shrugged it off and gotten used to it.
When Gabriel and I walked up to the main doors, we turned a few heads. Giving Gabriel a sideways glance, it was most likely to be our disheveled appearance that drew the attention.
At least there was no blood or scrapes, and our injuries were hidden beneath our clothing.
I pushed open the door, and we walked in just as Pinnosa was crossing the hallway. She stopped when she saw us. “What are you doing here?”
Just behind Gabriel, my eyes narrowed. Why did she seem so alarmed that we were back already? What had been happening on the campus?
Gabriel glanced around. There were students in here too. “May I join you in your office, Dean Pinnosa?”
Her unusual, startled expression disappeared, and the dean nodded, smoothing out the bottom of her jac
ket. “Yes, I think that’s a good idea.”
Taking that as my cue to leave, I trudged upstairs. After seeing all the people outside, I expected to see more life in the dorm, but as usual, doors were closed as I walked the corridor.
Seeing as though it was dinner time, I wasn’t surprised to find my room empty. I tossed the bag on the couch under my bunk, grabbed my towel, and then marched straight to the bathroom. After a full day of travelling plus the need to make sure I really was clean now, I grabbed my shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel, and heard the shower calling to me.
As I stripped off my clothes, I discovered the scab was getting smaller. At this rate, it would be gone by morning.
Cool.
I didn’t rush my shower. By the time I was out, dried and dressed, I didn’t have long to get to the cafeteria to get something to eat before it closed. Hurrying down the stairs, I discovered the cafeteria was almost empty and there wasn’t much food to choose from.
We’d eaten sandwiches from gas stations, so even the what was left of the chili was good enough for me. I ate quickly and returned to my room, but Leigh-Ann still wasn’t there.
Now was the point when having a working phone would have been useful.
But it was Leigh-Ann, and considering she usually spent her days with Ty, she wasn’t going to be in too many places. Technically, the opposite sex wasn’t allowed in the other dorm wing. It hadn’t stopped those two, but since it was still early evening, I was willing to bet neither was willing to risk it.
Which left the common room and the coffee shop.
There were a few people in the common room, but none of them was Leigh-Ann, so I headed outside. Dusk was setting in, and with it, a cool night. There were people shivering and pulling hoodies on as they hurried around the campus.
And then there were those who I recognized from training walking around in shorts with bare arms.
It really wasn’t going to be long before the humans figured something was up with a large portion of the student body.
When I reached the coffee shop, I was surprised to find it packed. The door chimed as I walked in, but you could barely hear it over the conversation level. Every chair was taken and there were even some places where students were sitting on the floor.
Winding through them, surprised that everyone seemed so chilled, I made my way to the counter. “What have you been putting in the coffee?” I asked Ty.
“Kennedy, you’re back!” Leigh-Ann’s high-pitch squeal had me both grinning and wincing. She jumped off the stool and launched herself at me, hugging me like she’d thought she was never going to see me again.
“I’ve been gone one night.” I pointed out, but I hugged her back anyway.
Leigh-Ann finally released me, still grinning like a clown, and climbed back onto the stool. There was one empty chair beside her, so I sat down.
Although the coffee shop was packed, the only people at the counter were Leigh-Ann, Harrison and Cash. The three were busy drinking their coffees as Ty handled making drinks. Occasionally, one of the three would grab the fresh drinks and run them over to the table that had ordered it.
“Where have you been?” Cash asked, sounding mighty accusatory for someone I had one interaction with, and that was to tell me to stay away from his cousin. Shouldn’t he be happy I wasn’t around?
Lying probably would have been the better option, but I had nothing. Instead, I decided to go with the truth. Or part of it. “New York.”
Cash rolled his eyes. “Whatever.”
Leigh-Ann scrunched up her nose as she looked between me and Cash. “Did I miss something?”
“Nope.” Cash’s gaze was fixed on the wall behind Ty as he took a sip from his drink.
I gave Leigh-Ann a subtle shake of my head before Harrison caught me. I forgot that I hadn’t told her about that yet.
Although she still looked curious, Leigh-Ann didn’t push it. She angled her body towards me and frowned. “You didn’t call or text. What’s the point of a phone if you don’t use it?”
My cheeks burned as guilt flooded me. “I broke it. I’m so sorry. I’ll pay you back—”
Leigh-Ann gave me a dismissive wave of her hand. “It was a gift. And I was going to throw it out anyway, remember? But what did you do to it?”
That was a good question, but one I couldn’t possibly give her the full, truthful answer to—at least, not here with everyone able to hear. “Dropped it.”
“Don’t question her like you haven’t just lost your own phone.” Harrison sighed, rolling his eyes. “That’s the pot calling the kettle black.”
“Like you didn’t go through six phones in your senior year of high school alone” Leigh-Ann glared at her twin. “Daddy threatened to give you that weird Nokia thing he had in the 90s, and suddenly, your phone’s survival rate went up.”
As Leigh-Ann and Harrison continued to bicker about the number of cell phones they’d had, I sighed and glanced up at the menu.
“Now that you’ve finished exploring, you want a drink, Dora?” Ty asked.
I raised my hand and flipped him the bird. “Hazelnut coffee,” I said, reading one of the items off the board. “What have you guys been up to?”
Leigh-Ann suddenly gave me the brightest smile, abandoning her argument with Harrison. “Discussing summer plans.” She reached over and linked her arm through mine. “I know you were busy at Easter, but you’ve got to come back to Texas with me for part of the summer. Please?” She’d drawn out the word.
I gave her the best non-committal smile I could. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go with her. It was still a few weeks away from finals . . . “Shit. Finals,” I muttered.
“I mean, sure,” Leigh-Ann said, bobbing her head. “Because that relates to what I just asked.”
“Sorry, I just realized how close to finals we are.”
“Did you get a death threat from Pinnosa too?” Ty slid the coffee in front of me.
Leigh-Ann looked between the two of us, frowning. “Why aren’t the two of you friends? You have so much in common.”
Chapter Seventeen
The simultaneous inability to breathe combined with the pain in my chest was what woke me. Looming above me, Leigh-Ann’s blue eyes were vacant and death-like as her hands wrapped around my throat, stopping the air from getting to my lungs.
My mouth opened as I tried to pull her off me, but no sound came out.
Summoning my strength, I shoved her chest.
What I wasn’t expecting was for her to go soaring off the bed and slam onto the floor.
“Crap. Leigh-Ann!”
The thought that I could have killed her nearly made me throw up as I threw back the covers and jumped down from the bunk.
“Leigh-Ann?” I gently touched her shoulder, terrified I was going to hurt her more.
She rolled onto her side, clutching at her elbow as she suddenly cried out in pain. “I’m sorry,” she sobbed.
“Why are you apologizing? I threw you off the bed.” Because she was crying so much, I helped her into a sitting position before yanking my blanket off my bed to wrap around her. “I’m the one that’s sorry.”
Leigh-Ann shook her head then winced at the effort. “I keep trying to hurt you. I could have killed you.”
“I don’t think you keep trying to hurt me, so much as hurt something you’re seeing in your vision. Whereas I’m the one with the strength. I shoved you too hard. Dammit, I could have killed you.”
“If I hadn’t killed you first.”
We were going to go around in circles. “Was the college being attacked again?”
Leigh-Ann shook her head. “It wasn’t the same dream. Not completely. The man was a woman.”
Between the crying and sniffling it was hard to hear what Leigh-Ann said. I tilted my head to look at her face. “The man was a woman? What?”
“Just a second.” Leigh-Ann pushed the blanket from her shoulders before getting to her feet. When I tried to help her, she waved me off. Guilt
flooded me as she limped to the bathroom.
Chewing at my lip, I paced back and forth, rubbing at my aching neck.
How could I have done that?
Even more terrifying was I thought Leigh-Ann was right. That if I hadn’t stopped her, this time, she might have actually killed me.
Leigh-Ann appeared a few moments later. The hair framing her face was damp and sticking to the side of her head. She shuffled over to the couch under her bunk and slowly lowered herself onto it. “I think I need to request a single room,” she said, not looking at me.
Picking the blanket up from the floor, I moved over, sitting down beside her. I took a moment to drape the blanket over us both before responding. “You could just as easily go sleepwalking into someone else’s room—a human’s room. Don’t get me wrong, it sucks, and my throat is sore, but I’m strong enough to fight you off.”
“Then I’ll barricade myself into my room.”
The whites of her eyes were showing as she stared at me. I reached over and took her hand. “And what happens if your vision comes true, and the college catches fire?”
“I don’t want to hurt you,” she said in a small voice.
“Then we’re going to have to work out what your dream means and stop it. You said it had changed tonight, right? I went with Gabriel to find Abaddon and then he wasn’t in the dream?”
Leigh-Ann gave a small nod as she extracted her hand from mine and curled up under the blanket. “The man isn’t Abaddon.”
“I know that, but . . .” I leaned forward so I could look at her face since she was trying so hard to avoid looking at me. “Leigh-Ann? Do you know who he is?”
Tears streamed down her face. “Yes.”
“You can tell me.”
Leigh-Ann shook her head; her lips clamped together.
Sliding off the couch, I knelt down in front of her and put my hands on her knees. “All I want to do—all any of us want—is to make sure your visions aren’t going to come true.”
“I’m scared you’re going to have to kill him,” she whispered.
