Angel Fever (3 page)

The other half all had a thing for Seb.

I held back a sigh; covertly, I found myself studying Seb’s face as he stood across the room. You wouldn’t have guessed he was Mexican from looking at him; his mother’s family had been European immigrants. From Italy, Seb always claimed – and he looked it, with his hazel eyes and loose chestnut curls. Though I always thought what he really looked like was a rock star, with the light stubble that usually coated his jaw.

Next to Alex, Seb was the best-looking boy I’d ever seen. I could understand why so many of the girls were attracted to him, even
without
the fact that he was half-angel – which only seemed to make him that much more intriguing to them.

I just wished he could feel intrigued by one of them in return.

In a sudden flash, I realized that Seb was aware I was thinking about him. From across the room, he gave me a quick, almost irritated glance, eyebrows raised; I felt a shutter slam down over his thoughts, blocking me out.

I crossed my arms tightly and looked away. I hated the distance between us, in every sense of the word. There was a time when Seb and I would have gravitated to stand next to each other as naturally as two magnets.

“Looks like we got another member of the CCC,” Sam muttered in my ear.

The Carrera Crush Club. Reluctantly, I glanced back and saw who Sam meant: a tall, leggy girl named Meghan was standing near Seb. She was eighteen, with auburn hair that spilled past her shoulders and a sort of girl-next-door face, so that I could never decide whether she was simply pretty or completely beautiful. But whenever I sensed her energy, it felt like bouncing rays of sunshine.

“No, they’ve been friends for a while; she’s part of that group he hangs out with,” I murmured back. Paul was still explaining, protesting that his rifle wasn’t working. Alex, looking like he seriously doubted it, had jumped down to go take a look.

“Yeah, but check out the way she’s looking at him.” Sam’s blue eyes narrowed. “I’m telling you, she’s got it
bad.
” Across the room, Meghan said something to Seb. His reply looked teasing; her cheeks tinged pink as she smiled.

Sam shook his head – half jealous, half admiring. “Man, that guy’s the biggest flirt on the planet. Wonder if he’s keeping track? He could be going for a world record of crushees here.”

I made a face and looked away. It was true that Seb didn’t seem to mind being the base’s most eligible bachelor. He wasn’t vain, but there was no way he could be unaware of the effect he had on girls – and I guess he wouldn’t even have been
half
human if he didn’t enjoy the attention.

But when Seb and I had first met, our minds had touched and explored each other effortlessly, our half-angel connection transcending normal things like getting to know each other. I’d seen then how much of an extrovert he could seem with his teasing charm – when really, he was anything but that.

He’d told me once that I was the only person who’d ever really known him.

The problem was, no matter how many “crushees” Seb had, I knew that our time down here had done nothing to lessen his feelings for me. In fact, as the months had passed, the only change had been in his growing reluctance to be around me. And, okay, it wasn’t like I didn’t
understand
it – but I hated that things had come to this. I hated not being close to him any more.

I missed my friend.

“I’m not sure,” I said, fingering a flowing pink sleeve. It was later that afternoon, and I was standing on Liz’s bed in my bare feet, straining to see all of myself in the mirror over her dresser drawers.

“It looks great,” Liz said in surprise.

“Yes, but it’s
pink.
” I was already taking it off.

“Pink’s got such a bad rep. Okay, forget that one.” Liz went rummaging through her closet again. Back when we’d been recruiting people, she’d always managed to snag lots of expensive clothes from abandoned stores. I hadn’t seen the point since we didn’t have anyplace to wear them, but I guess that was just me.

“Here, try this.” Liz tossed something black and flashing at me: a sleeveless top made of shiny black sequins. I pulled it on; it slithered down my torso like chain mail.

She whistled. “Oh,
sexy.
That one, definitely. Alex won’t be able to keep his hands off you.”

I gazed at the plunging draped neckline. The black sequins moved when I did, glittering and alive. “No, it’s not right.”

“Willow! Honestly, if you don’t wear that one I’m going to – wait, what are you doing?”

I was taking off the short black skirt I was wearing, struggling to keep my balance on the bed as I stepped out of it. “It’s too much with the skirt – it looks like I should be thirty years old and drinking cocktails.” I pulled on my jeans again. The contrast with the faded denim made the black top even sexier.

There was a pause as Liz studied me. She nodded.

“You’re right,” she said. “
That
is perfect. Now, jewellery.”

“I’ve got this,” I said in surprise, touching my crystal teardrop pendant. Alex had given it to me almost exactly a year ago, on my seventeenth birthday. I’d barely taken it off ever since.

“What about earrings, though? Look.” She brandished a sparkly pair.

“I don’t have pierced ears.”

“You don’t have pierced ears
yet,
” she corrected.

I opened my mouth to say,
Whoa, hold it right there
– and stopped with a gasp. A cold fog of fear had swamped me from out of nowhere, settling icily over my heart. I shivered at its intensity…and then it was gone, along with the words from my throat.

“Hey, don’t look so freaked out! Fine, we won’t pierce your ears if you’re going to be
that
much of a wuss,” Liz said, laughing.

I shook my head; in the mirror, my eyes looked wide and uncertain. “It wasn’t that. I thought I felt—” I broke off. Remembering how Raziel had psychically spied on me, I quickly searched my mind. I knew how to do it now; if he’d realized I was still alive and was somehow back again, I’d feel him. But there was nothing.

Liz was staring. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine,” I said finally. And it seemed true. The fear was gone as completely as if it had never been there at all.

“Sure?”

“Yeah, I’m okay.” My voice sounded more confident this time – I’d probably just had some kind of weird fast-forward to the attack.
I’ll ask Seb if he felt anything too, just to make sure,
I decided. He’d be out on the firing range now; I’d collar him as soon as he finished. Then I sighed, thinking of the guarded quality that would come over his energy the second he saw me.

There was a knock on the door, and Meghan poked her vivid head in. “Liz, do you have a— Oh, wow!” Her blue eyes widened; she came into the room, grinning and looking me up and down. “Willow, you look great!”

I’d almost forgotten what I was wearing. “Thanks,” I said, touching the sequinned top. Meghan wasn’t really a friend of mine, but I liked her. She was one of those rare people who just always managed to be happy. Before the quakes, she’d been training to be a dancer and had apparently had a promising career ahead of her, before the world became so devastated – yet you never got even a hint of her feeling sorry for herself.

“She won’t let me pierce her ears,” grumbled Liz as I jumped off the bed.

Meghan stared at her. “Seriously? You want to stick a needle through her earlobes?”

“See?” I said to Liz.

“
You’ve
got pierced ears,” Liz pointed out to Meghan.

Meghan fingered one of her dangly gold hoops. “Well, yeah, but I got them done at a shop. But, hey, what about shoes?” she added brightly. “Do you want to borrow a pair? I’ve got the perfect ones!” She darted out of the room, her rich hair glinting like autumn.

Liz laughed. “No one does ‘enthusiasm’ better than Meghan.”

“How come I’m the only one down here who doesn’t have a dressy wardrobe?” I said, gazing after her.

“The rest of us got our priorities right, that’s all.”

Meghan reappeared with a pair of shiny high-heeled shoes and crouched down gracefully on her long legs. “Oh, good – looks like we’re the same size.” As she began angling one of the shoes onto my bare foot, I started to protest, then just let her do it – it would have been like trying to halt a force of nature. Besides, I was too busy drinking in the shoes. They were a deep wine colour and almost old-fashioned: a chunky heel and rounded toe; a big button perched on the strap. But somehow they looked just…

“Amazing,” said Liz. “Meghan, you’re a genius.”

I turned my ankle this way and that. The shoes gleamed like fresh paint. “These are just…absolutely gorgeous. Thank you so much.”

Meghan sank back on her heels, regarding my feet with a small, wistful smile. “I love these shoes,” she said. “I always think they bring me luck.” She glanced up with a sudden grin. “And you’re going to be the birthday girl, so you get
extra
luck. That’s the rule. Anyway, I got distracted,” she went on, jumping to her feet. “What I came in here for was to ask if you’ve got iPods. I’m going to make a playlist for the party.”

Officially, the upcoming party next week was to celebrate Alex’s and my birthdays – I’d be turning eighteen, and he’d be nineteen. But really, it was just to give people a chance to let off steam and relax. After months of intense training, everyone was more than ready to.

I shook my head. “Sorry, I was still playing CDs back in Pawntucket.”

“I’ve got one,” said Liz. “Wait, I think I left it in the kitchen. Back in a sec.”

After Liz had gone, a silence stretched out between Meghan and me. I glanced at Liz’s clock. I needed to go talk to Seb soon, but it seemed rude to just leave Meghan there. Turning to her, I started to make some comment about the party – and caught her giving me a sideways glance, lips pursed.

“What?” I said in surprise.

Her milky skin flushed. “Sorry. It’s just that – I mean…you’re half-angel, aren’t you?”

She blurted the words out, and I blinked. Meghan
knew
I was half-angel. Everyone in the base knew, because Seb and I used our angels to help train people.

Before I could respond, Meghan shook her head. “God, don’t even answer that. I just wanted to know…well…what’s it like?” Her voice was soft, hesitant.

Strangely enough, in all our time here, no one had ever asked me that. I sank down onto Liz’s bed as I tried to gather my thoughts.

“I don’t know,” I said finally. “I only found out a year ago, so it’s still pretty new to me. A lot of times, even now, I’m not really conscious of my angel; I just feel human. And then other times, I’m so completely aware of this other self inside me.”

Meghan had lowered herself into Liz’s desk chair, listening intently. She glanced down, trailing her finger back and forth across the desk. “Do you think – do you think maybe it’s because you didn’t know what you were for so long that you’re with Alex now? I mean, Alex is
gorgeous,
and he’s a great guy,” she added hastily. “But if you’d known that you were half-angel all your life, then…well, do you think you could ever fall in love with a human?”

Suddenly it was all too clear what this was about. “I can’t really answer that,” I said slowly. “I mean, I can only look at it from my own experience.”

Meghan nodded, her blue eyes disappointed. “Okay,” she said after a pause. “Thanks. I was just curious.”

All at once her emotions swept over me. Usually I had to hold someone’s hand to get something, but this was so strong – an aching sweetness that caught at my throat.
This isn’t just a crush,
I thought in a daze
. She’s really in love with Seb.

I swallowed, shaken by the depth of her feelings – and wondered if I should warn her against caring so strongly for Seb, who’d always been adamant that he could never get seriously involved with a human girl. But Seb had to already know how she felt; he could read auras like other people read comic books. He’d be careful not to hurt her.

Even so, I couldn’t help saying, “Um, Meghan – listen, I’m not sure if—”

I didn’t know whether I was disappointed or relieved when Liz came back just then – I’d had no idea how I was planning on finishing that sentence.

“Here you go.” Liz handed Meghan the iPod. “I think Sam’s got one too.”

Meghan had been watching me with a slight frown; coming back to herself, she took the iPod and fiddled with its dial. She brightened. “Ooh, good, lots of indie stuff. There’s not much point in asking Sam Houston, though, is there? I bet he’s got both kinds of music – country
and
western.”

Liz grinned. “I think they sometimes listen to classic rock in Texas too.”

“A night of the Eagles and Chicago? Willow and Alex would never forgive me. Okay, laters, gators,” said Meghan, tucking the iPod in her jeans pocket. She glanced at me. “And, Willow – thanks,” she added in an undertone.

For what? I had a feeling that I hadn’t exactly succeeded in warning her away from Seb. I made a mental note to get her alone sometime soon and try again. “Thank you for the shoes,” I replied.

“Hey, I want those back, you know,” she said, laughing. “Your present is that you get to
borrow
them.”

T
HAT NIGHT
I
LAY IN
bed staring at the shadows on the ceiling, while Alex sat at our desk, working on his laptop. The strange moment of fear from that afternoon hadn’t come back, but I couldn’t get it out of my head. For something that had only lasted a second, it had been so incredibly intense.

When I’d asked Seb whether he’d also felt it, he’d said no – and I’d sensed his concern for me, along with his flash of irritation at himself for feeling it. I’d wanted to mention Meghan too, but it had felt pretty impossible. The days when Seb and I talked about anything and everything were gone.

Pushing my problems with Seb aside, I frowned as I thought again about that icy dread.
Had
it been a fast-forward to the attack, or something else? My psychic senses were usually pretty reliable – if I’d had a feeling, then something was probably going on.

“You’re still worrying about this, aren’t you?” Alex said, glancing over at me. We’d discussed it and agreed I should try to forget about the feeling unless I got something more specific.

“I can’t help it,” I admitted. “I just wish I could figure out what it meant.”

There was a
click
as Alex shut his laptop. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s get out of here and go for a walk.”

“A what?” I blinked as Alex grabbed his jeans and pulled them on over his boxers. The tattoo on his left bicep flexed: an
AK
in black gothic letters. “But it must be—” I glanced at the clock. “Alex, it’s after midnight!”

“Yeah?” He scooped up my jeans from the floor. “Perfect – there’s a full moon tonight; it’ll have risen by now.” He dropped onto the mattress on his knees. “Come on, time to get dressed.”

“Alex—” I broke off as I started to laugh. He was crouched on the edge of the bed manoeuvring my feet into the jeans, his expression intent as the muscles of his chest and shoulders moved.

“You look so serious,” I said, propping myself up to watch.

He shook his dark head. “You know, this isn’t exactly easy when you’re not helping. Here, lift up.”

Smiling now despite myself, I angled my midsection upwards. “Have you actually ascertained yet that I want to go on this walk?”

“Of course you do. A romantic walk in the moonlight with your boyfriend?” Alex tugged my jeans up the rest of the way and fastened them; with a grin, he kissed me. Then, more serious, he touched my face. “Come on. Really. It’ll do you good; you can’t just lie here worrying all night.”

I still found myself getting lost in his blue-grey eyes sometimes – the way they contrasted so sharply against his black lashes. “Okay, you win.” I climbed out of bed and pulled on a sweater over my white camisole – the desert gets cold at night.

Alex had put on a long-sleeved T-shirt; he took his pistol from the dresser, checked it, and stuck it in the back of his jeans. As we stepped out into the corridor, he eased the door closed behind us. The thick walls were pretty soundproof, but the one noise guaranteed to penetrate was a door banging shut.

Suddenly I was almost giggling at the furtiveness of it all. “Why don’t we do this more often?” I whispered.

Alex’s lips twitched. “Oh, yeah, because you took no persuading at all. ‘A walk!’ you said, springing out of bed. ‘Great, let me get dressed!’”

As we reached the garage, we were both stifling laughter. Once we were on ground level, we said hi to Matt, the recruit on guard duty, and then stepped out into the yard. Alex had been right; there was a full moon. Its light glinted on the chain-link fence. He punched in the code for the gate, and a moment later we were walking hand in hand down the gritty dirt road.

I was glad to see he’d shifted his aura. Like mine, it now appeared a sickly grey that clung close to his body – completely unappealing to a hunting angel. “You’ve gotten really good at that,” I said, studying him.

He squeezed my hand. “Had a good teacher.”

At first we’d thought that only Seb and I could change our auras, but then we’d found out humans could do it too; it just took them a lot longer to grasp. Alex, Sam and Liz hadn’t found it nearly as difficult as the rest of the team, though. They’d all been trained in energy work – Alex, since he was a child in his father’s AK camp, where he’d learned to scan the ethereal level for angels.

There was a rocky outcrop not far away, its rounded shape dark against the stars. We started up it, shifting from hiking to gentle climbing as it steepened. The moonlight was so bright it was actually casting shadows.

On the other side was a six-foot drop. Alex jumped lightly to the ground. “Come on, I’ll catch you,” he said, holding his arms out.

I sat down, legs dangling. “Are you sure about this?”

“Hey, don’t you trust me?” Alex took my hand with a grin and tugged; as I launched myself off the edge, he caught me solidly. Slowly, I slid down his body as he lowered me to the ground.

The feel of him so close was very…distracting. For a second I found myself wondering why we hadn’t brought a blanket, then rolled my eyes. I was really starting to develop a one-track mind. It was kind of hard not to – Alex was like a drug I could never get enough of.

“Good catch,” I said. Somehow my voice was normal.

I could tell Alex’s thoughts had been travelling in the same direction. He shook his head as if to clear it. “Well, it helps when the person you’re catching is extremely cute.”

We sat on the ground with our backs against the rock, stretching our legs out and gazing up at the stars. They glittered coldly across the night sky. I pointed to a small, bright zigzag. “Cassiopeia, right?”

Alex put his arm around me. “I’ve taught you well, grasshopper.”

I tickled him just under his armpit: the one place he was ticklish. “Maybe, but
you
still can’t fix an engine.”

He gave a yelp of laughter, twisting away. “No fair, you know all my weak spots. Yeah, guilty as charged.”

As I settled against him, the desert lay vast and still around us. It was so desolate, as if we were up on the surface of the moon. As if no one else even existed.

Yet barely a hundred miles away lay the ruins of Las Vegas – and like in all the ruined cities, people still lived there, somehow, in shelters made from collapsed buildings. A helpless anger touched me. It was the same all over, for anyone who didn’t go to an Eden. Across the country were thousands of “dark towns” with buildings still intact, but no electricity – all people could do was scavenge and try their best to survive. Not all of them did.

The quakes had changed everything, for ever.

Stop. Don’t go there,
I warned myself. It was too late; I was already reliving the earthquake that had flattened Mexico City. I shivered as I recalled that groaning roar. And a lot of our recruits had been through even worse. When I’d first held their hands to make sure we could trust them, I’d seen so much sorrow – so much pain.

I looked up to find Alex studying me. “What are you thinking?” he asked softly.

I swallowed. “Just…wondering what we’ll do if we actually succeed. Where would you want to go? Someplace up in the mountains, maybe, like back to the cabin?”

One of his eyebrows rose sceptically. “A, anywhere as long as it’s with you, and, B, why do I have the feeling that you’re sitting there blaming yourself again?”

I stared out at the desert and couldn’t answer.

“Stop,” Alex said in a low voice. He cupped my face in his hands, gently forcing me to look at him. “Listen to me. It wasn’t your fault.”

I managed a tiny smile. “Are you turning psychic now?”

“Yeah, I wonder how I can possibly manage to know what you’re thinking, when you’re such a total enigma.”

I choked out a laugh. “Pretty predictable, huh?”

“When it comes to this? Just a little.” He rested his forehead against mine. He didn’t say anything else. He didn’t have to – we’d already had this conversation more times than I could count.

“You know what I really want to do if we win?” said Alex finally.

“No, what?”

He hesitated, his gaze searching mine. “I want to find your mother,” he said. “I want that for you more than anything, Willow. I don’t care if we have to spend years looking for her – if we can, then we’re going to do it.”

My throat went tight. I checked on my mother psychically every day. It was always such a relief to feel that she was still okay – even though I had no idea where she was or who was keeping her safe. And just the fact that Alex wanted that for me…it meant everything.

“Thank you,” I said.

I stretched upwards, brushing his lips lightly with my own. Then again, more lingeringly. Much more lingeringly. Alex wrapped his arms around me, pulling me onto his lap. His lips were so familiar – warm, slightly rough, as intoxicating as the first time we’d ever kissed. When we finally came up for air, I felt dizzy.

“Maybe one of these years, I’ll get used to how amazing that feels,” I whispered, stroking his warm back under his shirt.

“Really?” Alex said huskily. “I never will – not if we live to be a hundred.” His heartbeat pounded against mine. “Willow, listen – do you really feel like staying out here? Maybe we could—”

“Go back to our room instead?” I finished for him. I kissed his nose. “Yes, you are definitely reading my mind,” I said solemnly.

Suddenly we were both laughing. My laugh turned to a squeal as Alex scooped an arm under my knees and lurched up with me in his arms. He nibbled at my earlobe. “So I guess this is our walk biting the dust.”

I twined my arms around his neck. “Yeah, Matt’s going to be laughing at us. We’ve hardly been gone any time at all.”

“You know what, that is so far down on my list of priorities right now that it’s practically nonexistent.” Grinning, Alex gave me a boost and I scrambled onto the boulder. With a quick jump, he braced himself against the top and began to lift himself up.

Admiring the motion of his muscles, I smiled and crouched down, stretching a hand out to help…and then terror slammed into me like a fist of ice.

I gasped and rocked backwards, stunned by its intensity. It was the same fear I’d felt that afternoon, times about a thousand. My stomach knotted, adrenalin surging through me.

Something was going to happen soon. Oh god, something terrible was going to happen—

Alex was beside me, clutching my shoulders. “What’s wrong? What is it?”

“Something…I don’t…something bad…” My mouth felt thick and clumsy.

His fingers tightened. “Willow, come on, talk to me!”

The primal fear released its grip a fraction, leaving dread as thick as swamp water. “Something’s going to happen! ”I burst out. “We’ve got to go – we’ve got to stop it!”

I turned and ran, stumbling over the uneven rock and then skidding down the other side. I was pounding towards the base when Alex caught up, darting in front of me and grabbing my arms again. “Willow,
wait
! What’s going on?”

“I don’t know!” I cried. “But we’ve got to go – we’ve
got
to!”

“Go
where
?”

I realized I had no idea. I looked around wildly, as if the answer might be lying somewhere on the desert ground. There was nothing.

I reached quickly inside myself; I could sense that my angel was just as worried as I was. Shifting my consciousness to hers, I lifted out of my human body and soared up into the stars.

The fear hit me again, full force. Fighting against panic, I glided, reaching out with everything I had.

“Are you getting anything?” Alex asked. In my human form, I was aware of his hands, warm on my arms. He stood peering up at my angel’s bright form.

No,
I started to say…but instead my voice came out in a ragged whisper: “The east.”

Because all at once I could sense it: something dark was waiting to be unleashed on the eastern horizon. In the air my wings went cold as I realized the angels were waiting too – they were all gathering. Getting ready.

“How far away; can you tell?” Alex said urgently.

I was shivering. “I don’t know!” Feeling suddenly frightened and too exposed, my angel returned to me in a rush. “But, Alex, we’ve got to try and stop it! There’s some kind of powerful force – the angels are all waiting for something—”

His face hardened. “Come on.” Grabbing my hand, we took off at a run back to the gate. A wide-eyed Matt was already there, swinging it open for us.

“I saw you on the cameras. What’s going on?”

“Willow’s seen something,” Alex said shortly.

Matt paled; the whole base knew what “seen something” meant. We rushed back into the building, Matt jogging along beside us. “You want me to sound the alarm?”

Alex shook his head. “No, not yet.” As we stepped into the elevator, he half turned, throwing the words over his shoulder: “Wake up Sam, Liz and Seb; tell them I need to give them a quick briefing.”

As the elevator whirred downwards, I tried to convince myself that I’d overreacted – that whatever was going to happen wasn’t
that
bad. Any comfort from this vanished once we’d left the elevator behind and reached the hub of the base. Seb was running towards us from one of the dorm corridors wearing only a pair of jeans, his bare feet slapping at the floor…and somehow I knew it wasn’t because of Matt’s alarm.